Why does my stomach stick out?

[Master Bates]

For as long as I can remember, my stomach has stuck out. It's not fat, it's just my stomach sticking out. Even after I lost weight a few years ago and have been trying to build muscle since then, it doesn't look much if any different. My gut just sticks out, and it doesn't take much more pushing it out to make it look like I'm pregnant or something. I do crunches, and for a while I've even done stomach vacuums every week, but it hasn't made much difference. My gut still sticks out. Do I need to do a bunch more crunches or what? Do I just have an abnormally large stomach that pushes out my abs? I mean what the hell. I'm sick of it and it really hurts my physique.

 

[speakeasy]

I often see that with muscular guys. Some have abs that protrude out further than their chest. It's not like it's fat or anything, it's muscle. And when they're really ripped it looks like they have a turtle shell under their skin.

 

[ThreeStorms]

I suppose you have bad posture. Your back pushing your lower stomach to the front.

 

[Quiksilver]

I have the same issue man.

Last spring I did everything I could for 3 months to try to fix it. I even cut my bf down to 10%.

All the different things I tried are documented in this thread:

Large belly

To this day I can't figure it out conclusively. My best guess is that it is either

A) Posture problem. My chiropractor said I had tight hip flexors. I'm going to book in a new guy and ask him about this issue.

B) Intra-abdominal fat. Unlikely but in about a month I'm going to get an ultrasound to be certain.

C) According to my mom(who has the same thing), she has an extra loop in her intestines, that causes it. In this case, there is nothing I would want to do about it. There is an operation for it, but it's far too risky and dangerous.

Scour that thread I posted, because I covered all possible causes, and one might be the cure for you.

I'm also posting some progress pics soon, so you can see if we are the same or not.

 

[Master Bates]

I often see that with muscular guys. Some have abs that protrude out further than their chest. It's not like it's fat or anything, it's muscle. And when they're really ripped it looks like they have a turtle shell under their skin.

I don't know if it's a muscle issue, though, or at least a matter of having too much. Like I said, my stomach has been like this since long before I started working out.

quicksilver- thanks, I'll take a look at that. extra loop in the intestines? man that's crazy!

Are there any tips for improving posture? I figured mine was pretty good, and I stood beside the mirror looking at myself from the side, changing my posture around and the only times it had a positive effect on my belly was when i was leaning over unnaturally, so I don't know if it's posture either. I figure it's just really really weak internal obliques that aren't holding in my innards, or my innards are unusually large or something.

 

[spesmilitis]

Try sprints. My abdominals always look best when I'm sprinting. I've never seen a man or women sprinter with a stomach sticking out either. I'm not sure if it'll solve your problem, but it couldn't hurt to try it out.

 

[Create Reality]

sway back (lordosis). i have that a bit too. it makes you look fat with baggy shirts lol. focus on your chest out when u walk, and do abs exercises and hands-to-toes hamstring stretch.