Can You Tighten a Flabby Abdomen After 60?

Weight can be lost and abdominal muscles can be toned at any age, even after 60. Cardiovascular and strength training exercises can help you lose the flab and tighten your abdominal muscles. These exercises, along with healthy eating that promotes weight loss, can help you achieve your goal of losing excess belly fat and developing a tighter-looking abdominal area.

Excess flab in the abdomen isn't good for your overall health, and it will hide any muscle tone you achieve through exercise. Losing the excess flab is a good place to start, and you can achieve this with regular cardiovascular exercise. Do at least 150 minutes per week of cardiovascular exercise. Choose exercises you enjoy doing so working out won't feel like drudgery. Enlist a partner or friend to exercise with you to add a bit of socializing to it. Brisk walking will help you burn 250 calories in one hour, while aerobic exercises such as swimming or biking can help you burn around 500 calories per hour. By burning 250 to 500 calories per day, you can lose 1/2 to 1 pound per week.

As you lose excess flab, it's important to build and strengthen the core muscles for a flatter, toned abdominal region. You should be engaging in two or three sessions of strength training exercises per week to maintain muscle mass and strengthen your bones. Just 20 minutes per session is enough to achieve this and help you get tighter abdominal muscles. Strength training exercises such as trunk rotations, barbell deadlifts, squats and hay bailers will help tone your ab muscles while also engaging other muscles of the body. Use weights heavy enough to tire your ab muscles by the 10th or 12th repetition. If it's been a while since you've strength-trained, you may find it hard to do even a few repetitions. Start where you're at and slowly increase as you grow stronger.

Cut 250 to 500 calories per day from your caloric intake, although you should still eat at least 1,200 calories if you're a woman, or 1,400 if you're a man. Focus on eating healthy foods, such as lean proteins, fresh produce, whole grains and low-fat dairy. Drink eight to 10 glasses of water each day to keep your body hydrated. Include healthy fats in your diet, such as those in nuts, avocados and seeds, to fuel your body and reduce belly fat.

Set physical appearance and fitness goals that are realistic and appropriate. Losing weight, exercising and toning your tummy can make you feel more self-confidant and energetic, and you may feel the best you've felt in years. But don't allow insecurity or comparing yourself to people half your age to be the driving force behind your desire to look and feel better. If you're going to do it, do it for yourself alone. Before you start any ab-improving plan, talk to your doctor to get health clearance.