What Type Is Your Tummy? Identify Your Type and Find Out How To Get Rid of It

Everybody wants a great-looking flat belly, especially when it’s the bikini season. So prepare yourself for a quick overview of the 5 tummy types and the professional trainer James Duigan’s advice on how to get rid of yours.

The stomach is the part of the body in which fatty layers are most frequently accumulated. If you’re not one of those “lucky” ones who have flat stomach, then check out these five tummy types, decide which one is yours and try to follow the advice given below so as to finally reduce it or get rid of it completely.

“A-list trainer and body guru James Duigan, who sculpts supermodels Elle Macpherson and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley among others, insists there is no ‘one size fits all’ method for getting a flat belly. Instead, he’s identified five key ‘tummy types’, all of which require a different approach to achieve successful toning.” (DailyMail.co.uk)

1. Spare Tire Tummy

Identify it:

Women who have this type of tummy most probably lead sedentary lives. If you have this tummy type, you probably have some kind of an office job and you love to spend your free time just lying around and being a couch potato. There’s also a possibility that you have an emotional attachment to food, especially sugary foods and alcohol.

Typical bad habits of people with this type of tummy: low physical activity; long hours of sitting; consumption of sugar and carbohydrates in foods like cakes, biscuits, and white bread, or starchy carbs in pasta and rice; and regular alcohol consumption.

However, according to James, this is one of the easiest tummy types to eliminate.

Here’s how to get rid of it:

If you really want to eliminate the fatty layers from your stomach and tighten your stomach muscles, it is necessary that you cut down on your alcohol consumption. Alcohol converts to sugar and hinders the digestion of other foods, until it has been finally processed.

Avoid low-fat and so-called ‘diet’ snacks because these are not as healthy as you think they are. Eat fresh foods such as fish, eggs, vegetables and organic meat. In addition, James says not to be afraid of eating good fats, such as avocados, nuts and oily fish “because these encourage your body to burn midriff fat, giving you a flat tummy.”

Try to do physical activities more often. If you work in an office, park your car further from your workplace. Thus, you will be able to walk for a while before you arrive at work. Exercise more often. This doesn’t mean that you need to start with intense, exhausting and long trainings. For starters, begin by doing several squats, push-ups, dips, or lunges every day.

2. Stress Tummy

Identify it:

You must be a perfectionist or an over-achiever who aims at great things. One of the main problems with which women with this tummy type are facing is the occurrence of frequent bowel disorders which can cause bloating (irritable bowel syndrome). The body weight in these women is typically concentrated in the front lower part of the stomach and this tummy type is hard to the touch.

Typical bad habits are: skipping meals; consumption of large amounts of caffeine and fast food.

Here’s how to get rid of it:

Try to go to bed earlier and get more sleep. Sleeping affects the production of the hormone leptin, which regulates the appetite and the metabolism.

Learn how to relax. Try practicing breathing exercises, meditation, and take longer baths that will help you get quality sleep.

Take long walks, practice yoga and resistance exercises.

James advises that you cut down on your caffeine intake and increase your consumption of magnesium-rich foods such as dark green leafy vegetables, Brazil nuts and seeds.

3. The Little Pooch

Identify it:

Most busy mothers and women with demanding jobs have this type of stomach. These can also be women who are addicted to the gym, but keep to the same routine of exercising and the same diet. This routine may make them slimmer, but it leaves them with a “lower belly that spoils” their look.

Typical bad habits: Intense exercising, doing too many ab crunches and using gym items such as ab-rollers can burden the abdominal, hip and lower back flexors. As a result, the lower abdominal part weakens and protrudes, giving the characteristic belly that sticks out.

How to get rid of it:

Healthy foods and high amounts of dietary fibers are essential for the improvement of the digestion in this type (to relieve or prevent bloating). Green leafy vegetables, wholemeal grains, and oatbran are great sources of fibers.

Stop doing exercises for your abs and move on to isometric exercises that serve to strengthen muscles. Replace sit-ups with planks. Lie face down on the floor and lift up with your hands, supported on your elbows and toes. Stay in this position for at least several seconds or as long as you can.

Use weights to burn fat in very short time.

Do several series of exercises like lunges or squats.

4. The Mummy Tummy

Identify it:

This type of stomach is typical for women you have given birth in the past few years and have little time for themselves.

Typical bad habits that mothers have in this phase are: Intense exercises and burdening of the organism very quickly after giving birth due to their strong dissatisfaction with their physical appearance.

How to get rid of it:

Give yourself time to restore the normal look of your body. James suggests that you wait at least 2-3 months before starting with exercises.

Consume plenty of omega-3 and omega-6- fatty acids, as well as plenty of nuts every day. These foods will help you to remove unwanted fatty layers from your body, absorb essential vitamins from food, and reduce tiredness.

Practice Kegel exercises because they will help you strengthen your stomach muscles from the inside out. Do them for at least 15-20 times in series of 5 per day.

Restrain from abdominal exercises because the linea alba muscles, which are located in the mid-line of the abdomen are still weak and separated due to giving birth. By doing crunches, you can cause an even further separation of these muscles. James suggests that you get down on all fours, inhale deep into your tummy and then slowly exhale while doing a pelvic floor exercise.

5. Bloated Tummy

Identify it:

This tummy is flat before having breakfast and the first cup of coffee in the morning, and then starts to bloat fast as a result of the accumulated gasses and the decreased function of digestion. Almost in all cases, this tummy type is caused by the intolerance to certain types of food, occurrence of allergic reactions, or sluggish bowels as a result of poor diet.

The main bad habit of women with this tummy type is the consumption of foods that they are intolerant to without knowing it.

Here’s how to get rid of it:

Intolerance is commonly developed towards carbohydrates and foods rich in gluten.

In James’s experience, the most common intolerances are wheat and gluten, alcohol, yeast, and processed dairy.

In this case, you should experiment with your daily diet and start by excluding some of the foods you consume on a daily basis. “Try eliminating key culprits such as gluten for a fortnight to see if your bloating reduces or worsens when you reintroduce foods”, says James. If you notice positive changes in the appearance of your stomach, then it would be best to entirely exclude these foods from your diet.

Advice for sluggish bowels: Your breakfast should be your biggest meal; avoid eating late; chew food properly; drink plenty of water.

Bloated stomach can also be a result of imbalanced intestinal microflora. Try to consume prebiotic and probiotic supplements and brewer’s yeast more often, because these will help you restore the good bacteria in your stomach. Natural sources include sour cream, miso soup, fruits and vegetables including kale, onions, and garlic.