Exercises to Tighten Up Stomach & Flatten the Tummy

Fat loss should not be mixed up with weight loss because the two are not the same. One may lose fat by exercising and eating healthily but at the same time gaining weight from the increase of muscle mass. It is always a better practice to strive to lose fat and gain muscle definition as merely losing weight can be risky to one’s health. Learn a few good exercises to tighten up stomach and get rid of stomach fat in this article.

For other articles on how to eliminate stomach fat and slim down your belly, please visit:

• Healthy Way to Get Rid of Belly Fat


• Lower Ab Crunches for Sexy Flat Tummy


• Easy Lower Abdominal Exercises


• Food that Eliminates Stomach Fat


• Tummy Flattening Exercise

A group of muscles that often gets neglected in stomach exercise routines are the transverse abdominals, the core and deepest abdominal muscles that lie below the rectus abdominus and the lumbar multifidus which cannot be felt from the surface.

Most abdominal exercises target the rectus abdominus and the vertical abdominals, and do nothing for the transverse abdominals. Even sit ups or crunches, the basic of most abdominal workouts, ignore the transverse abdominal muscles. These muscles are actually the most important to target as they connect to both the lower back muscles and the rectus abdominus and function as a girdle for the entire abdomen.

They also support posture, provide proper balance and stabilize the lower back and control deep breathing during power movements, such as heavy squats or heavy lifting. By Incorporating some exercises to flatten the tummy that target these muscles in your workout routine, you can have a flatter stomach.

Just to have a feel of how this muscle work, try blowing out all the air in your lungs and pull your tummy in. There, you have just used your transversus abdominus muscle to execute that movement.

You can target these muscles and really get rid of stomach fat effectively by performing the following exercises to tighten up stomach. As with any workout routine, be sure to consult a professional before starting and always warm up properly to avoid injury.

Pelvic tilts
This is a good exercise to flatten stomach. This exercise workouts the lower abdominal underneath the navel. Start by lying on your back on the floor or a bench. Protect your spine with a mat or towel. Bend your knees so that your feet are flat on the floor. Lift only your pelvis off the floor, hold for a moment, and then bring it back down. Repeat for an entire set. Remember to maintain a controlled movement to allow your abdominal muscles to do the work on the exercise rather than your body's impulse. Also, keep your upper body on the floor all over. Do 3 sets of 15-20 reps.

Crunchless crunch
This exercise targets the upper abdomen. You will try to to pull the belly button in towards the spine in this exercise. This may involve using muscles which you may not be used to activating. To begin, either lie or on your stomach or kneel. You can try both poses to see which one is more effective for you. Relax, use only the lower abdominals to move your belly button toward your spine. Hold for ten seconds or as long as you can. The goal is to hold the contraction until you either cannot feel it, or you feel other muscles working harder than the transverse abdominus. When you achieve this, release the contraction. Perform 3 sets of 15-20 reps.

Scissor kicks
This is another good exercise to flatten stomach that requires you to lie on the floor. Put your hands below your butt and your back pressed against the floor. Slowly arouse one leg to as high as ten inches, then slowly bring it back down to the floor. As you lower your leg, raise the other. Repeat this motion for an entire set. Maintain a controlled motion and make sure your upper body rested firmly on the floor through the entire move.

Stomach vacuum
Stomach vacuum exercises are a great way to target the deep, hard-to-target transverse abdominal muscle. To start, stand upright and place your hands on your hips or over your head, and then expel the air out of your lungs thoroughly. At the same time, expand your chest and suck your stomach in as much as you can, hold it in, breathe normally. To be blunt, just suck in your stomach. Imagine trying to reach your backbone with your navel. Repeat the exercise for a few more sets. This will train your abs muscle to continuously hold your tummy giving you flat stomach look.

Standing pelvic tilts
Standing pelvic tilts are another technique of stomach vacuum exercises. Start by standing with your legs about hip-width apart, and your knees slightly bent. Inhale deeply through your nose, then exhale through your nose while pulling your belly towards your spine and rolling your hips out in front of you. Repeat for a few sets.

There are many of other exercises to tighten up stomach that targeting the transverse abdominals, but these five should be enough as a start. Such exercises to flatten the tummy are key to get rid of stomach fat and have a flatter stomach, and they are especially good for pregnant and postnatal women.

If your goal is to flatten your stomach with exercises, here are some additional tips:

• Improper eating habits can ruin a great, hard workout. Be sure to incorporate your fitness routine with clean eating habits. Read Losing Weight by Counting Calories for basic diet guidelines.


• Adequate water intake. Stay hydrated the whole day to keep the body functioning at it's highest level.


• Keep a low to moderate body fat percentage. Depending on how you hold your weight, anywhere from 12 to 15% is acceptable.


• Get enough sleep. This means not only getting plenty of sleep, but also getting the right kind of sleep. Also be sure to schedule off days into your routine to give your muscles a chance to rest up and rebuild. Further reading on sleeping and weight loss: Sleep Deprivation and Weight Gain.

There you go, some best exercises to tighten up stomach you can perform to get rid of a stomach fat. By practicing these tummy flattening exercises combined with the above tips, you can lose an inch or two from your stomach and have a flatten stomach in as little as three to four weeks.

Simple Ways to Flatten Your Tummy - Tummy Flattening Exercise

Flatten your tummy is not easy, especially if you don't know how to target your stomach area with tummy flattening exercise. But with stomach vacuum, one of the easy and simple ways to flatten your tummy, you can slim down your belly in a very short amount of time. Learn how to target your stomach area and slim down your belly with stomach vacuum exercises and also how to do stomach vacuum in this article.

Check out the following for more exercises to slim down your tummy:

• Exercises to Tighten Up Stomach and Flatten the Tummy
• Free Abdominal Exercise Methods for Women
• Abdominal Exercises in Pool
• Exercises that Slim Down Your Belly

Abdominal muscles and flat stomach

The abdominal muscles are a group of muscles that cover the abdominal region from the ribs to the pelvis, from the deep muscles, i.e. transverse abdominal and the internal obliques, to more superficial, namely the external obliques and rectus abdominus.

These muscles support the torso, help in the breathing process and more importantly provide postural support.

Inner abdominal muscles
The transverse abdominus muscle is the deepest abdominal muscles. It's located around the torso and cannot be felt from the surface. The internal obliques resides on each side of the torso after the transversus.

Outer abdominal muscles
More superficial muscles are the external obliques and the rectus abdominus. The external obliques are located on either side of the torso after the internal obliques. The rectus abdominus muscle is at the outermost of the abdominal muscles.

All these muscles affect the body posture although more superficial muscles will have less effect over body posture than those that are deeper and closer to the spine, namely transverse abdominal and the internal obliques.

Unfortunately, the transverse abdominus and lumbar multifidus often gets neglected in stomach exercise routines. They are the core muscles that lie beneath the rectus abdominus, and external obliques. Since they are rarely targeted they are often weaker.

Stomach vacuum: easy ways to flatten your stomach

The stomach vacuum is an isometric contraction of the transversus abdominus. It is one of the best simple ways to flatten your tummy and shrink your waistline quickly. You can lose an inch or two from your midsection in as little as three to four weeks with this tummy flattening exercise, provided it's done properly. Also, targeting this abdominal muscle with exercise will help you gain more control over your abs, and assist you better in explosive lifts. Stomach vacuums need practice, but they are extremely effective.

How to do stomach vacuum?

To do the stomach vacuum expel all the air from your lungs firmly. At the same time, draw in your tummy towards your spine, tightening the muscles while imagining your belly button is about to reach your spine. Breathe gently in that posture and keep the position for approximately 45 seconds.

This is an isometric contraction, similar to flexing your biceps. When doing the stomach vacuum, you need to breathe normally likewise when flexing your biceps.

How to do stomach vacuum more effectively? A more effective adaptation of this tummy flattening exercise would need you to be on all fours in a crawling position. Make sure your spine is straight and parallel to the floor. Then do the stomach vacuum as mentioned earlier except that this time, you are on your hands and feet. Repeat this exercise eight two twelve times. Do both exercises every other day. Combine it with a proper diet to get rid of belly fat, weight training and cardio exercises. In very short time, you will get that flat stomach look along with glorious six pack abs. These are effective and simple ways to flatten your tummy.

How to do stomach vacuum: the sets and reps

Counting reps with stomach vacuum is a bit different. One isometric contraction of "X" seconds is one repetition. For instance, if you suck your bowel in for 10 seconds, that’s one repetition. If you execute that two more times, that’s 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

The transversus abdominus is one of your core muscles and it needs to be trained. This tummy flattening exercise will strengthen and stabilize it which will help you to have more control over your abdominal, and prevent the loose belly hangover because of an underdeveloped transversus abdominus.

You may doubt the effectiveness of this exercise since it does not involve slinging hundreds of pounds of iron. But, effective training is not just about using a fancy machine or grunting under a stack of plates rather it is more depended on the intensity and form.

Practicing the stomach vacuum

You can execute the stomach vacuum every other day e.g. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Although the abs can bear with more intense workout than other muscle groups, they still need their rest. Hence, performing this tummy flattening exercise daily won’t be as effective as you may think it would be.

You can start by performing 3 sets of 20 reps every other day for the first week and increase it gradually, for instance, 3 sets of 30 reps for the second week then 3 sets of 40 reps for the following weeks.

The point is to keep building up in seconds (reps) or sets. You can determine your own start point and progression phase. Finally try to work up 4 sets of a full minute.

Additionally, you can execute the stomach vacuum while performing your regular abdominal exercise. Focus on sucking in the transversus abdominus as you do your abdominal exercise. Pull in your stomach as far as possible and flex your groin muscles as close as you can.

Finally, you can perform the stomach vacuum everywhere and anywhere even at your desk at work. You can also execute it in a standing, kneeling, seated, and lying position. By incorporating this tummy flattening exercise, with your regular abdominal training and proper diet, you can reduce the size of your waist and get rid of belly fat in as little as three weeks. Stomach vacuum is really one of the best simple ways to flatten your tummy.