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You have so much tone in your arms. Your biceps could cut glass. You could bounce a marble off your thighs. But you just can’t seem to get that abdominal definition! If you’re going for muscle definition and you just can’t seem to get the fat off your belly, it may be time to rethink your tactics.
Try this: If you feel like you should have a six-pack by now, but you have that layer of stubborn belly fat, try pinching your tummy, pulling it out slightly, and letting it go. If it ripples like water instead of bouncing back like fat, you could be carrying water weight.
Your body really likes to store excess water and sodium in your abdominal area, which means that even if you have defined muscles, your body could be holding onto that water without you realizing it.
If you’re at 7 or 8% body fat or below, these tips may work for you. Give them a try and see if you can finally see those abs!
- Hydrate! That’s right, your body could be holding onto that excess water and sodium because you don’t drink enough of it in the first place. The more you drink of it, the more you’ll lose during exercise, and the less your body will have to feel like it needs to hold on to every drop of water it has. It’ll also speed up your metabolism and get your skin looking healthy.
- Get sweaty! The reason sweat is salty is because you’re losing the sodium that’s sitting under your skin. Take you and your full water bottle on a trip to the sauna. Sweat out that sodium and keep replacing it with water, and see if you can get your sweat to taste less salty. If you get your sweat to that point, you’ve lost enough sodium that you’ve probably also lost a lot of that muscle-covering fluid.
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- Flex it out! Flexing in front of a mirror may seem vain, but it actually helps you gain muscle definition and sweat out your water weight. It’ll also help you gain control over your muscles.
- Get more fiber! Fiber cleanses your kidneys and intestinal tract, and helps get rid of excess fluid. Eat lots of veggies, and fibrous fruits to make sure you’re getting enough fiber.
- Don’t eat too much salt! Since that layer of skin is a lot of sodium, try to cut down on it as much as you can. You don’t need any more than 2000-2500 mg a day. That’s really not that much!
- Drink black coffee or tea! These are natural diuretics, and as long as you’re hydrating, you should be able to flush out that extra sodium.
There you go! The first step to all of this, of course, is your training and nutrition. But If you need that extra push, this is what you need!
