My waist is wider than my hip.. and I have tried almost all muscle endurance exercise... even the side situps dont do anything. I run 3 miles a day.

So what am i doing wrong? or what do i need to do?

Any ideas?!?!?

Umm. Well, as far as I can tell, to have a hip measurement smaller than a waist measurement, you'd have to have pretty small hips. Do you mind posting what your waist and hip measurements are, and maybe your height and weight?

You're female, right?

Seems like you're doing everything right. It could very well just be your body type. Even very large people often have waists smaller than their hips. It's luck of the draw, really, and I'm always hearing that spot reduction is impossible. Liposuction might do it, but that's a pretty extreme solution to what probably isn't even a real problem (health-wise) so long as you're active.

If it's fat, there is nothing you can do. You can't influence the distribution of fat in the body. Exercising abdominal muscles will help to hold in your organs and give you better posture, but will not reduce fat specifically in that area.

Are you sure your waist is wider than your hips? I am fairly fat and just becoming active again and my waist is about 36 inches, my hips about 41. I don't have a lot of hip action for my body size, and my waist is bigger than it should be- but my waist isnt bigger than my hips. What are your measurements coming out as?

My waist is wider than my hip.. and I have tried almost all muscle endurance exercise... even the side situps dont do anything. I run 3 miles a day.

So what am i doing wrong? or what do i need to do?

Any ideas?!?!?

Be really careful about building muscle tone in your waist area. If you are doing side sit ups a lot, you could be building muscle, which is the opposite of what you want to do if you're looking to slim your waist. Weight machines where you have to twist your torso could help. Also, vary your ab and waist excercises from day to day. Doing the same ones every day will continue to build up muscle in your 'problem' areas, which will make you look bulkier.

Be really careful about building muscle tone in your waist area. If you are doing side sit ups a lot, you could be building muscle, which is the opposite of what you want to do if you're looking to slim your waist. Weight machines where you have to twist your torso could help. Also, vary your ab and waist excercises from day to day. Doing the same ones every day will continue to build up muscle in your 'problem' areas, which will make you look bulkier.

i was taught recently this isn't true, especially in women.. it would take a LOT of work to actually get to a muscle bulking phase and its unlikely you would reach that. strength training is awesome for slimming. even though im a dude, it seems the more i work on my midsection the slimmer it gets, as well as some visible muscle (but thats cuz im a dude and ive been going at it for a while :)

ive pretty well restructured my body, but my lifestyle was restructured even more. good luck, and try to let your health motivate you and not the measurements!

try interval training or speed work with your running. this often helps one loose fat (lowering body fat percentage overall) and promotes overall leanness.

building muscle in the area isn't a bad idea. muscle takes up less space than fat, so if you are gaining muscle (i actually recommend weighted crunches and side bends to gain strength in those muscles), it will take up less space (be smaller) than the fat in the area.

doing both (interval training in your cardio and weighted abdominal exercises) is a great way to trin your waistline.

Also, as thalia said, body type plays a roll in fat distribution and how much you're able to loose (how lean you're going to be) in order to maintain health. If you loose too much, it can be unhealthy.

I don't know how wide your hips are, but it may be your natural build. You may be able to slim the waist more by losing more fat. But if you are running 3 miles per day (very respectable by the way), you may be literally losing your butt! I know I have to watch not letting my body fat drop too low or when I am working my lower area I begin to see my bottom disappear.

I would not however, stop your ab routine.

Another way to slim your waist is to build your chest and back, you'd be amazed at what pushing a few weights can do.

Thank you all for your responses and tips...

Apparently I have very low body fat percentage in my ab area. I have thick muscles. When i got a body fat analysis, the doctor was surprised that i basically have no fat in my abdomen area and I do have a belly that im trying to tone my ab.

My hip is 35 and my waist is 33.5.. but it is wider and out of porportion. I dont really look at my body based on measurements but the size. My left side is more curvier than the right..

Thanks!

Hmm maybe less muscle training? You sound like you're SUPER fit...maybe you're actually more in shape than the average woman.

I have some things that I do, but they probably will sound really silly to a lot of people. A lot of Asian women believe in massage, which is becoming more popular in the States, but I personally don't think they do it right in the States. This might not work for you bc you don't have much fat, but I've found that it helps loosen some of those stubborn fatty areas. My arms used to be a bit thicker, and I started massaging them everyday while watching TV with the right technique, and I've lost a LOT of fat on them. Same with my tummy, which went from 25 to 23...I know it goes against a lot of science that says you can't trim specific spots, but it worked for me.

Sounds very interesting and I believe it. I read a lot about massaging and i think they do personally work along with toning exercise.

And im not super fit yet. But im working on toning/firming.

um, stop eating as much.

easier said then done, i know. but hey, it works. fullproof.

umm, how do you know she eats all that much anyways? From what I've read in other threads, she eats less than most people, and she works out way more than most people as well. Eating less is NOT necessarily FOOLPROOF.

umm, how do you know she eats all that much anyways? From what I've read in other threads, she eats less than most people, and she works out way more than most people as well. Eating less is NOT necessarily FOOLPROOF.

Yup. She eats about half of what I eat.

My guess is that its just natural body type. Keep working out and eating right. If your body is meant to change shape, it will. Otherwise, just enjoy the fact that its strong and healthy.

Yeah i cant agree more, but these muscles wont tone!!! damnit. Im still eating less unfortunately.. Like today i only had one meal. =(

And im going to exercise like crazy tonight.

I think it will take more time then it normally does for an avg person.

your muscles are probably fine. the muscle is below the fat, so you'd need to burn off the fat to see the muscle.
that means fat-burning excercise not muscle-building excercise.

however if you're not eating enough your body is in starvation mode and will cling to every fat molecule you DO eat and will store it... guess where... yep abdomen
so sounds silly but to lose belly fat you actually need to eat more in your case. especially as a runner, you burn a lot of calories and it sounds like you're not even eating enough to fuel your body through that excercise nevermind fueling it for other day-to-day stuff. it's a wonder you can get out of bed.

your muscles are probably fine. the muscle is below the fat, so you'd need to burn off the fat to see the muscle.
that means fat-burning excercise not muscle-building excercise.

however if you're not eating enough your body is in starvation mode and will cling to every fat molecule you DO eat and will store it... guess where... yep abdomen
so sounds silly but to lose belly fat you actually need to eat more in your case. especially as a runner, you burn a lot of calories and it sounds like you're not even eating enough to fuel your body through that excercise nevermind fueling it for other day-to-day stuff. it's a wonder you can get out of bed.

I believe it:D ...just like if you don't eat enough fat your body will hold on to whatever fat you have. That's why I was saying that eating less isn't necessarily a foolproof way to slim the waist.

yep it'll actually have the opposite effect.

PV if you're worried about gaining and not sure how to eat healthy, how much is enough and all that, why not book an appointment with a nutritionist or dietician? you have to eat enough to fuel an active body, sometimes it's a bit tricky to find the right balance