Stomach getting leaner...but rounder?

[mediumweight]

I have been doing some fat loss I and I am noticing that the amount of fat around my stomach is decreasing and my abs are starting to show through a little, but I also noticed that my stomach has become rounder and sticks out more. My waistline hasn't necessarily gotten bigger though. Why would this be?

Also if I wanted to lean up and decrease the roundness of my stomach would strength, hypertrophy or more fat loss be better?

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by mediumweight

but I also noticed that my stomach has become rounder and sticks out more.

Have you had any unprotected sex recently?

[kfisherx]

Originally Posted by Hunter

Have you had any unprotected sex recently?

LOL! okay barring not preggers, there is this thing that happens when you lose fat that sort of fits what you are seeing. I think that Lyle McDonald (or perhaps it is Leigh Peele) calls this "squshy fat". The stubborn fat starts to break down and gets squishy but doesn't look smaller. The rest of your body shrinks around it so the end result is that it looks worse for some time before it gets flushed out. When I dropped down to 11% over the summer I looked worse in my stubborn fat area (my lower abs) for a long while.

You did not provide details on bf% or anything like that but I am making this assumption based on the fact that you are seeing abs now.

[tkinsley]

Potentially a postural issue as well; excessive lordosis/"swaybacking" of the lumbar spine can cause a lovely pot bellied look.

[NickS]

I think the same thing was happening to me. I went through the Break-in and Hypertrophy 1 and it seemed that my stomach was bigger, but I could see more definition. I thought maybe I was just gaining fat and muscle both since I was eating a lot. By the end of Hypertrophy 2 though, my stomach seems to have flattened quite a bit. kfisherx's theory makes sense; maybe it is just "squishy fat" and you'll lose it soon like I have been.