A lot of people want to have a flat stomach, but does a flat stomach mean that you have strong abs?
Not necessarily.
A lot of things go into having a flat stomach.
I did actually do a video about flattening your stomach overall. And I mentioned some of these things. I go into more detail there.
The Role Of Overall Muscle Development
Many people don’t have much muscle overall. So you won’t see a lot of upper body definition or lower body definition, but their stomach will be flat. They’re not carrying a lot of extra fat, but they also don’t have a lot of muscles. So their abs are probably underdeveloped as well.
If they’re not training, but they’re eating the right amount of food in order just to maintain their weight and to be at a reasonable body fat level. So they’re going to look like they have a flat stomach, but if you don’t do any training, the abs are just like any other muscle. If you’re not actively training the abs, then you’re not going to increase the strength.
But some people do have that appearance without any strength.
The Impact Of The Digestive System
Now, the other thing is that a flat stomach is more than just about the muscles that are there. Think about what you have down below. You have your small intestine, which is about 20 feet long. And then your large intestine, which is another six feet long. So you’ve got about 26 feet of stuff winding around.
And what happens when you eat, you’re taking in food stuff that moves around through that area. Where you are in terms of your eating can make a big difference to what’s in your stomach.
Flat Stomach Challenges
I suffer from IBS irritable bowel syndrome. So I often am quite bloated in both the small intestine and the large intestine. It’s puffed out at the bottom sometimes at the top as well. So I get a lot of bloating and bulging out as well. And that’s not determined by my abs or anything like that. My abs are not getting weaker, but they’re being pushed out from everything that’s going on in the intestine.
You could very well have strong abs. Maybe you train them regularly. You could be doing weight training, but they might not always look flat.
Why I Don’t Always Have A Flat Stomach
Definitely for me, first thing in the morning is a little bit better. Later on in the day, I tend to be a bit more bloated and bulging out. Now that’s not technically part of the stomach. The stomach is just the smaller part and people just think of that. Stomach is like the whole belly area. So that whole appearance of whether your stomach is flat or not can be affected by your digestion.
Do you have issues with your digestion? If you do leave me a comment. Tell me about it.
I hope I answered the question for you. A flat stomach does not necessarily mean that you have strong abs.
