Fitness advice

 Ok, after 5 babies and several stomach surgeries I have virtually no stomach muscles to speak of. I am trying to work on my mid section ( I have lost inches and weight everywhere but there) Here is my question, Is it too soon to do crunches and/ or weight lifting around my stomach? Im 8 weeks out from surgery. Second question, What should I be doing to target this area? I go to the ymca 6 days a week and am willing to try any exercise that will make a difference. Im in a stall right now but I assume that I am building muscle because I have been working so hard. So any advice is appreciated. 

 Any exercise is going to help with weight loss in general but if you genetically carry weight around your middle it will probably be the last to go. I was very belly heavy and that is where the last of my fat sits, wi**** wasn't so but still thrilled at how healthy and strong I am.  Strength training is always good but only once your surgeon okays it so I would talk to him/her.  Good luck!

I hate to break it to you, but you can't build muscle when you are in a serious calorie deficit. But increasing your strength training often causes your muscles to retain water. The effect generally only lasts a week though so you should see the scale move soon.

Also, you can't spot reduce. If you have stomach fat to lose, the only way to lose it is to lose more fat. The stomach is often the last to go, but it go it will as long as you keep losing weight.

To lose fat, do cardio. Strength training is done so as not to lose lean tissue. So you need both. But doing crunches will NOT reduce stomach fat. It might give you a six pack, though.

Generally, you can start doing strength training once your weight lifting restrictions are removed. I think that's around 6 weeks for most programs but you should definitely check with your surgeon as there might be reasons why she (he?) would want you to wait longer.

If you've had five babies and been obese, I'm going to tell you that even when you lose most of your fat, you are going to likely have belly "issues".  I have had no babies and while I have thinned down wonderfully, I have a big old roll (that people tell me only *I* notice) above my pants and another hidden by my pants.  It's not fat, it's skin - but it's there.  No amount of sit ups, crunches, or whatevers are going to make it go away.  It's plastic surgery to remove it, or learn to love it.

You MAY be lucky and your skin will have some elasticity after the fat goes away...and I hope you do, but it sounds like you've stretched it out a few times...

Keep up the good work you are doing, and definitely check with your surgeon before pushing yourself too far.  Exercise and weight lifting is wonderful for your health and overall appearance. 

I would love to hear suggestions for at-home abdomenal strength exercises.  Crunches don't work for me - my lower back/tailbone screams when I lay on my back on the floor, even with a soft pad. 

Being sick I've realized just how weak I've gotten - I can't cough the way I used to when I had all of that weight on my stomach to push off of! 

I'm loving the C25K program but I'm definitely seeing the need to couple that with strength exercises. 

Can you do ab work on an exercise ball or does that hurt also? Another thing you can do is hang from a pull up bar and lift your legs (hanging knee raises, leg lifts)

http://www.ehow.com/how_5639999_abs-pull-up-bar.html

If you don't belong to a gym, you can buy the bars to hang above a door jam at home.

Planks