Every day, girls are faced with the cult of a beautiful, well-groomed and healthy body - on the TV screen and glossy pages of magazines, exceptionally ideal figures without an ounce of excess fat are constantly shown. Of course, today many brands in the beauty industry, clothing, etc. when building their advertising campaigns, they are increasingly focusing on body positive standards, but this does not mean that there are no fewer people who want to become the owners of an ideal flat stomach.
Horizontal folds on the abdomen in people of medium and heavy build look natural, however, it turns out that even the thinnest women have stripes in the waist area. These folds form above and/or below the navel and are not fat deposits. Horizontal stripes are a kind of wrinkles that appear once and never go away on their own.
The reason for the formation of horizontal folds on the abdomen
The reality is that horizontal folds on the stomach are a “problem” that is familiar even to avid athletes and people who are not inclined to be overweight. So what is the reason for these “wrinkles”? You need to understand that folds on the stomach are normal. They do not have any consequences for the body, their presence (in most cases) does not indicate any disease.
This is a physiological feature of the body: the skin wrinkles when a person sits, and over time “remembers” this compressed position, leaving marks on the stomach. However, the intensity of this “memory” depends on the elasticity and firmness of the skin - if the turgor is disturbed (due to the individual structural characteristics of the skin, as a result of age-related changes, due to illness, etc.), then after extension the skin is more difficult to “remember” its original position.
Why does this problem arise?
1. We have already mentioned one of the reasons for this aesthetic defect above - a sharp loss of body weight. In such cases, fat deposits on the anterior abdominal wall disappear, but the skin that covered them does not. If weight loss occurs quickly, then the dermis simply does not have time to shrink enough for the stomach to become even and smooth. A fold is formed. And due to the fact that there are no “reinforcing” structures in it, it sags under the influence of gravity.
2. The second reason for this violation is strictly the opposite - excess weight. Both the skin and fatty tissues on the anterior abdominal wall have some elasticity. But, if too many of them accumulate, they gradually begin to sag, forming a so-called “apron”. The situation can also be complicated by a person’s age. After 45–50 years, the abdominal muscles begin to weaken, and therefore the “apron” becomes more and more noticeable.
3. The third reason and a common question that women ask SM-Plastic specialists: what to do if after childbirth the skin on the abdomen hangs and does not return to normal? Why is this happening? The answer is simple: while the fetus grows in the uterus, the volume of the abdomen increases and, accordingly, the area of skin that covers it. After childbirth, the volume of the uterus, together with the volume of the abdomen, decreases sharply. But the skin is not capable of shrinking so much and quickly to compensate for the changes. As a result, stretch marks form on them, and excess skin sags under the influence of gravity.
4. Finally, the fourth reason is diastasis (separation of the rectus abdominis muscles). It occurs when the white line, which represents the fibrous structure of the anterior abdominal wall, is weakened and stretched.
How to determine whether skin turgor is normal?
After 25 years, the skin begins to lose elasticity - the production of the required amount of hyaluronic acid and collagen decreases. Of course, comprehensive answers to questions about the condition of the skin can only be obtained through a consultation with an experienced cosmetologist. However, no one has canceled the preliminary self-diagnosis methods:
- Step 1 – pinch the skin on the outside of your palm with two fingers and hold for a few seconds;
- step 2 – release the skin: if the skin quickly returns to its original state, the turgor is not disturbed; if fingerprints disappear slowly, the skin needs “help.”
Why fat accumulates in the lower abdomen
This is primarily due to the characteristics of the human body and centuries of evolution. Once upon a time, fat reserves were necessary for survival in harsh natural conditions. As part of the modern development of society, fat no longer performs such an important function, but our ancient brain continues to accumulate reserves for a rainy day.
This is interesting: women are characterized by the accumulation of subcutaneous fat, while in men it is deposited in the visceral areas. At the same time, estrogens play a huge role in the production of fat deposits: during menopause and after it, when hormonal changes occur in the female body, you can notice an increase in the volume of the waist and hips.*
In addition, modern lifestyle is often associated with sedentary work, unhealthy diet and regular stress. All this contributes to improper distribution of subcutaneous fat and the formation of pronounced deposits in the lower abdomen.
Breathing exercises
To quickly and effectively lose weight, perform the “vacuum” exercise. This is a yoga asana aimed at improving peristalsis and normalizing the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. However, in addition to this effect, it has a lot of other advantages, including helping to work out all the abdominal muscles, quickly getting rid of a bulging belly and strengthening the corset. To do the exercise:
- Lie on your back, bend your knees, stretch your arms along your body and relax as much as possible. Start breathing slowly from your diaphragm.
- Exhale smoothly, trying to get all the air out of your lungs. After exhaling, pull in your stomach, trying to press it as close as possible to your spine. Hold the position for 10–15 seconds.
- Slowly begin to inhale, releasing tense muscles.
How else can you exercise if you want to strengthen your abs?
Here are a few more exercises that help get rid of this problem that poisons women’s lives. If you do them for half an hour for a week, the result will be obvious.
Exercise 1.
Place your feet shoulder-width apart. Place your hands over your slightly bent knees. During breathing exercises, pull your stomach in. Move your left leg with your toe extended to the side. Give the straight arm the opposite direction, raising it above your head. Shift your body weight to the other side. We rest our right hand on the bent knee. We strain our left muscles, wait 8-10 seconds, then change sides. Your back should be perfectly straight and your feet should be firmly on the floor. In each direction we repeat the described steps 3-4 times.
Exercise 2.
Lie on the floor and do breathing exercises. Place your arms along your body so that your palms face down. Raise your straight legs slightly above the floor, extending your toes. You need to cross them with each other, alternately bringing them together and apart in the air. You need to perform 3-4 approaches 10 times.
Exercise 3.
You need to lie on your back, bend your knees and place your feet on the floor. Raise your arms straight up. Perform breathing exercises and tighten your stomach. Stretch your arms forward, lifting your shoulders and upper body off the floor as far as possible. Hold your breath and count to eight. Slowly take the starting position. Repeat 5-6 times, trying not to lower your head too low. It is important that you work primarily on your stomach and not your neck. It is also recommended to do lateral raises to engage the obliques.
Exercise 4.
It is also called “Cat”. You need to kneel and lean on your elbows. After breathing exercises, smoothly, using the diaphragm, alternately draw in and inflate the stomach. According to some data, this exercise also has general strengthening and healing effects.
How to remove
There will be a very similar approach as in our article Without deception and marketing: how to make your waist thin? . You will have to work comprehensively and not expect instant, 555% results in 2 weeks. We don’t need special creams that cost 100,500 rubles or some tricky exercises that fitness girls hide from us mere mortals.
Everything is much simpler and more uninteresting: Madame Siju’s beauty depends on her emotional state, nutrition, physical activity and skincare procedures. The components are arranged in descending order of importance!
Stress
Let's quote our favorite character from childhood: calm, only calm! All these abstruse words about receptors are not a verdict. This is just information that should explain to you some of the features of losing weight and your figure.
When planning your “new dream shape”, you must set realistic goals and respect your own “flavors” - don’t ask for the impossible!
In addition, this does not mean that such fat cannot be broken down, not at all. Translated into normal, non-boring language, this means that stimulating the breakdown of fat in these areas is more difficult, but more than possible!
In addition, remember, stress is the main enemy of losing weight ! Fat cells, which are dominated by alpha receptors, store fat in response to stress. The harder you push yourself, the more fat you will have in these areas (thighs and buttocks). And with constant prolonged stress and subsequent hormonal imbalances, new “problem areas” with alpha fat may even appear.
So take care of yourself and read in the article Vitamins and supplements for weight loss within 100 rubles: top 16 that everyone should have , how to reduce cortisol!
Nutrition
So, in order to remove something unnecessary from our body, we need to lose weight. There will be no other way out except limiting calories, no matter how hard you try! What are we doing:
- We calculate our norm KBZHU - Metabolism: daily diet for weight loss ,
- use from 30 ml. water for every kilo of weight daily,
- try to reduce the amount of too fatty, salty or sweet foods in your diet - this can cause swelling and create unnecessary additional volume,
- We don’t bother with keto , paleo diets and all sorts of detoxes - all this is unnecessary dancing with tambourines, causing a lot of stress, but not giving any additional profit.
We recommend that you refer to the section Various menu options for weight loss
Exercises
And again our favorite moral: no exercise burns fat in a specific place! So if you squat, it’s not at all a fact that it’s your butt and quads that will lose weight. You cannot “download” fat from a specific place, and you don’t need to. Our goals:
- Invigorate the muscles of the buttocks to give them initial tone and improve blood circulation.
- Make the gluteal muscles larger and thereby “raise” the butt, visually reducing the fold. Also, good posture is important, so do some lumbar stretches. Your lumbar arch visually shapes your figure, it affects how your muscles look in the overall context.
Unfortunately, we won’t reveal any America to you: all the exercises have long been familiar and loved by you! This:
- The ideal squat for the buttocks: how to pump up an elastic butt,
- For amazing buttocks without injury: Romanian deadlift - technique and secrets of execution,
- One of the most effective exercises for the buttocks: leg swings,
- Details about the gluteal bridge: 11 effective options,
- Bulgarian back lunges.
We sincerely recommend the article Making your butt bigger at home is real: how to pump up your buttocks at home
Massage/creams/wraps/contrast shower
Of all this, we can definitely recommend a contrast shower and self-massage after it for 10 minutes using a hard towel, because they are free, beneficial for your body as a whole, and available to everyone at any time of the year!
As for hardware cosmetology (such as lPG/Icoone massage, myostimulation, RF lifting), mesotherapy and injections with the introduction of lipolytics, vacuum or anti-cellulite massages, and especially wraps and creams, our opinion is this: all this costs a lot, and the effectiveness is questionable.
More precisely, it exists, but in our opinion, it is advisable to engage in such procedures only for those who have a lot of free time and money, do not have the slightest desire to play sports, or for professional performing athletes.
However, keep in mind that you will still have to adhere to the diet. Does all this make sense with diet and exercise? We think not
