Sure, you can get your girlish figure back. With body shaping, you can look even better than you did in your teens.

As for your immediate problem, your abs, you can do old-fashioned sit-ups till the cows come home without much effect. Most bodybuilders feel that traditional sit-ups don’t work the abs (rectus abdominis) the way a crunch will.

A crunch is pretty much what it sounds like — you’re crunching your abs, pulling your pelvis and shoulders closer together in a torso-curling motion. It’s like sucking your belly button in and pressing it toward your spine, and meanwhile pulling your shoulders and pelvis up and closer together. Once you get it right, you’ll really feel it. The range of motion is short but powerful.

Once you understand the underlying movement, you can accomplish it in many ways. You can do it lying down with your knees bent and your feet on the floor or up on a bench. You can curl your shoulders off the floor or lift your hips. You can sit on a bench and lift your bent legs as you crunch. You can hang from a bar or a leg-lift apparatus. You can use various types of ab machines in the gym, though some might not technically represent a crunch.

The seated knee-up is one of the best variations for a busy mom. You don’t have to suit up to train; you can work up to doing 15–25 reps on a kitchen chair a couple of times a day, and pretty soon you’ll be on your way to shrinking your tummy troubles. Whichever version you choose, be sure to tilt your pelvis so you actually contract the rectus abdominis — the long, flat, segmented muscle in the front of your midriff and abdomen — and not the underlying hip flexors.

Focus on correct crunch form. If you slip into the sit-up movement, you’ll put more stress on your back, which could cause trouble if you tend to have back problems.

Be sure to crunch hard and often. Adding some resistance — either on an ab machine, by holding weight on your chest for a lying crunch or lifting your legs with or without added weights — will help tighten your tummy faster.

Train your abs just like any other muscle and, as you get stronger, add some resistance. If you train your abs 2–3 times a week, you should see good progress.

Weak abs may not be your only problem. If you’ve accumulated body fat, especially in the abdominal area, you aren’t going to see a sleek, sexy midsection. If you’ve gained pounds, you may need to shed them. Or you may need to change your body composition. In bodybuilding, as you add muscle tissue and burn off body fat, your body composition improves and you get more muscular, but your actual bodyweight may not change much.

Using a tape measure might help you determine if you have excess fat in your midsection. Measure your waist, then your hips. Then divide the first number by the second (using inches, not metric). A healthy ratio for a woman is generally 0.8 or less. So if your waist is 32 inches and your hips 38, a 0.84 ratio, you might need to lose some fat in addition to doing crunches to regain your flat tummy.

To trim bodyfat, add a fat-burning aerobics session 3–5 days a week and eat more lean protein and less fat and sugar. Stick with your ab routine in the meantime to firm up your midsection while you trim it down.

Lots of gorgeous moms compete in bodybuilding and fitness contests and model for M&F, so having kids certainly doesn’t have to ruin a woman’s physique. They keep their figures the smart way — strategic exercises and low-fat, high-nutrition eating. You can, too.