Toning Exercises?

[Matt Young 0]

I've recently lost a substantial amount of weight (43 pounds). I'm about 5'8" tall and 125 pounds now. Obviously, I don't need to lose anymore weight, but I do have some excess skin in the stomach and leg areas that I need to tighten up. Does anyone know any good exercises that can fix my problem? I've tried situps and such, and although I have gained some muscle in my abs, it hasn't really gotten me toned at all and my back's fucked up anyway, which makes situps difficult. Any help would be appreciated.

[Guest wildpegasus]

I've recently lost a substantial amount of weight (43 pounds).  I'm about 5'8" tall and 125 pounds now.  Obviously, I don't need to lose anymore weight, but I do have some excess skin in the stomach and leg areas that I need to tighten up.  Does anyone know any good exercises that can fix my problem?  I've tried situps and such, and although I have gained some muscle in my abs, it hasn't really gotten me toned at all and my back's fucked up anyway, which makes situps difficult.  Any help would be appreciated.

How bad is your back? That's a pretty big variable on what you can or can't do. Better check it out before you do anything.

 

Crunches will do as just as good a job as situps. They don't really hurt the back either. Situps can actually bother it some even if you have a healthy back. I never do them. You can have the strongest abs in the world but no one will ever see them as long as there is some fat covering them.

 

 

If you want to lose that excess skin around the legs and stomach start training your entire body with weights (bear in mind your back though). The more muscle you have the easier it is to have limited fat. Train intensly but not too long which is important. Eat well throughout the day and spread your meals out. Muscle actually grows during rest and not when you're training. I really hate (most, but not all) machines and don't believe in them so try to stick mostly with the free weights. Make sure you do everything in correct form. That's an absolute must.

 

If you're 5"8" and 125 I can't imagine you have much fat on at all.

Edited December 10, 2003 by wildpegasus

[Guest Monday Night Jericho]

Also if you want to tone down opposed to "bulking-up" then stick to a low-cal diet, and do more repetitions of lighter weights (around 16-25 should the job) instead of doing smaller repetitions of heavier weights.

 

And as WP said, sit-ups don't do much and you can't feel your abs strain until you do over 100... so stick to crunches and perhaps hold a weight/dumbbell to your chest. Try to get into a routine of doing more and more reps as time goes on as it'll show that you're getting stronger.

 

Oh, and don't forget to stretch before and after you exercise.

Edited December 10, 2003 by Monday Night Jericho

[{''({o..o})''} 0]

I recommend yoga. It is fairly low impact, strengthens many muscles(good for backs), and it never hurts to be more flexible.

[CanadianChick 0]

Sorry to be nosy, but isn't 125 pounds at 5'8 a little small for a guy?

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

If you weigh that little, you'd be better off working on your self esteem.

[Guest Skironox]

Sorry to be nosy, but isn't 125 pounds at 5'8 a little small for a guy?

Worldwide, I believe the average height for men is 5'7.

 

Weight is somewhere around 155.

 

I'm 5'9 130... is that small?

[EricMM 0]

You're very skinny.

 

Doesn't exess skin eat itself away eventually or something? It must...

[Jobber of the Week 0]

5'9 130 is thinner than average, but if you're skinny and have no muscle mass it's healthy.

 

A friend of mine in high school was 6'2, 140 and was what I'd consider borderline too skinny, but not that bad since his height was all legs.

 

Too skinny would be my ex-boyfriend, who was 6'6 and 135. Not quite counting ribs or anything, but being a big-all-over kind of guy (don't take that the wrong way *cough*) he could literally fit his hands around his stomach. O_o

[CanadianChick 0]

Wow. Most guys I know are at least over 150. But I guess if you don't have muscle mass, it's different. It's just kind of weird when a guy who's my height or a bit taller than me is my weight. And I'm considered pretty thin.

[Cartman 0]

Hell i'm 5'8" and about 215 and I don't consider myself FAT. I'm thick, overweight, and out of shape...but definitely not Fat.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Damn, there's some skinny bastards out there. They must feed us well here.

[Guest JacK]

Yeah, don't do full sit-ups with a bad back, trust me that is a world of hurt just waiting to happen. Crunches on a softish surface I found didn't hurt my back, and mines fucked up enough that it's killing me just sitting here. 128 pounds, that's like what, 58 kilo's right? Sorry, but your all crazy with your Imperial system . . . no offence or anything.

 

And you gotta be very careful doing weights, you can still do larger amounts, you just gotta pay attention to how your doing it, even with smaller ones; and try to minimize the whole back-usage factor. But I'm prolly telling you stuff you already know.

[Damaramu 0]

Wow. Most guys I know are at least over 150. But I guess if you don't have muscle mass, it's different. It's just kind of weird when a guy who's my height or a bit taller than me is my weight. And I'm considered pretty thin.

Yeah well aren't you a swimmer? You people are notoriously skinny......gotta glide through that water or something.

And i know you play volleyball.........damn play football or something....then you'll get some muscle......

*pictures buff CC sacking the quarterback...*

[Matt Young 0]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. No, I'm not fat, but I was all my life basically until this year. That's why I have excess skin. I even have stretch marks on my hips, arms, etc. Those won't go away for a while, but I want to get rid of my stomach flab/skin. I'm pretty self-conscious, and that bothers me. Anyway... some people say I look great now, a very select few say I'm too skinny... I'll try to get comparison pics for you guys. Oh, and another note- I lost the majority of that weight in a few months, so the short time period may have something to do with why I have excess skin.

 

As for my back, I have had 2 bulging disks for a few years, an injury that I reaggravated landing on my shoulder/neck/upper back while taking a flip bump in wrestling training a while back. On any kind of hard(ish) surface, the two discs that stick out literally grind into whatever I'm lying on, preventing me from doing situps. Also, there's a lot of strain on my back and neck. I'll have to try some of your methods, though.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Wow. Most guys I know are at least over 150. But I guess if you don't have muscle mass, it's different. It's just kind of weird when a guy who's my height or a bit taller than me is my weight. And I'm considered pretty thin.

You live in Canada. You people eat gravy-covered french fries.

 

I'm a little guy, about 5'5 and 135 pounds, mostly due to my irregular bowel system.

 

 

 

 

 

I mean, exercise.

[CanadianChick 0]

Wow. Most guys I know are at least over 150. But I guess if you don't have muscle mass, it's different. It's just kind of weird when a guy who's my height or a bit taller than me is my weight. And I'm considered pretty thin.

You live in Canada. You people eat gravy-covered french fries.

 

I'm a little guy, about 5'5 and 135 pounds, mostly due to my irregular bowel system.

 

 

 

 

 

I mean, exercise.

That's not that small, if you're comparing weight to height.

 

Hey! Poutines are great! Don't be hatin' now.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Wow. Most guys I know are at least over 150. But I guess if you don't have muscle mass, it's different. It's just kind of weird when a guy who's my height or a bit taller than me is my weight. And I'm considered pretty thin.

You live in Canada. You people eat gravy-covered french fries.

 

I'm a little guy, about 5'5 and 135 pounds, mostly due to my irregular bowel system.

 

 

 

 

 

I mean, exercise.

That's not that small, if you're comparing weight to height.

 

Hey! Poutines are great! Don't be hatin' now.

You're right, I'm just below average in height and weight at least for the people I hang around.

 

And I knew it/that/whatever pronoun is applicable was called poutine...where the hell did that word come from? I'm guessing its French or Acadian or something...

[MrRant 0]

I like gravy on my French Fries as well.

 

Good stuff.

[EricMM 0]

Matt there are other kinds of crunches.

 

I dunno what would hurt you.

 

What about lying on a bed and doing leg lifts?

 

Or lying on your stomach on a work out set-up where you lower your body then raise it again?

 

Can you work your back at all?

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Not to veer off-topic, but is there anything else on the fries besides gravy? I have to try them now...what about bacon? Mm...bacon, gravy, and french fries.

 

And Other Matt, you might can try incline sit-ups. Maybe the extra streching could help. I have no idea, but they've toned me up.

[CanadianChris 0]

Not to veer off-topic, but is there anything else on the fries besides gravy? I have to try them now...what about bacon? Mm...bacon, gravy, and french fries.

Cheese, preferably cheese curds.

[chaosrage 0]

Crunches. Never do sit-ups. ESPECIALLY with a bad back. Also jog if you can do it.

[Guest Just Looking]

You guys don't really know what you're talking about, I'm sorry to say. Crunches will not get rid of excess skin- it only makes the muscles under the excess skin stronger. I don't know what helps, but I know that crunches aren't the answer (but still do them).

 

How do I know? I was 6'1, 280, and am now 200- did it within 6 months, and haven't gained it back. So I also have some excess skin.

 

I always hear that time is the only thing, but I'm hoping there is something else that will quicken the process. Sorry I can't give any real help.

[EricMM 0]

But if he makes big muscles UNDER the skin he will have less excess skin.

 

Right?

[Boner Kawanger 0]

You guys don't really know what you're talking about, I'm sorry to say.

Don't be.

[Guest JacK]

Doesn't skin like peel away and get replaced anyway? Or is the same amount produced all the time? I figure it'd gradually go away as each layer peels off, but that'd take time. That is, if I know my biology, which I DON'T.

[Guest Just Looking]

I lost my weight from June 2002- Dec 2002, and I still have some extra skin on my thighs and around my waist- but it has gone down a bunch in the past year. Yes, theoretically, the bigger muscles will lead to less excess, but not a whole lot.

 

Just keep working, and tr y not to think about it too much- before you know it, it will be gone.

[Murmuring Beast 0]

I'm 6 foot and 140-145, which is down to my rapid metabolism. I've always been just as skinny and my weight increase as of late is directly in proportion with my height. As I'm in Uni now, I expect my diet to change dramatically even though I'm still living at home, so I'll probably have gained 15 pounds or maybe more by the time I leave. Then, I can maybe think about working out. There's no use though, when you've got nothing to work with. I'm fairly fit and have a decent turn of pace if I need it, but my diet at the moment is shite so I expect that to change.

[Renegade 0]

Having a bad back I was wondering how do you do crunches? I cant do sit ups because of my messed up back and would like to tone the muscles in the mid section. It might sound like a really retarded question but I have no idea what crunches are.