Sorry if the post is redundant...but I have been using Tinder lately and everyone seems to be really fit. I am not in bad shape and not over weight but could use some work on my abs.

How can I tighten the stomach using weights? I don't like sit ups because I have spinal problems, but lately started using weights for arms, chest and legs and the light workout feels good, any help would be good thanks.

Are you wanting to develop your abdominal muscles, or are you trying to lean your stomach out and lose fat there?

There is no such thing as spot fat reduction. If you're goal is to show your abs more you need to work on:

#1 diet
#2 cardio

There are lots of fantastic ab exercises out there that do not require any kind of weight that are not plain old sit ups.

Can you do leg lifts, bicycles, leg crosses, scissor kicks, all with your back on the ground?

There is also knee ups which you can do either hanging from a pullup bar or with a machine at most gyms. additionally there are in and outs, and mason twists if you can have your back at a 45ish degree angle and support your weight with your hands.

If you are physically able to do all of these exercises , i wouldn't consider weighted exercises for abs unless you can easily run a routine of all of the above x 25 per exercises 2x.

Not a lot of reason to my knowledge to train abs with weights unless you are trying to really strengthen your core, which you may be?

Diet will play a bigger role in fat reduction for you if you are limited in what you can do with weights. You cannot spot-remove fat, it doesn't work that way. Any sensible compound movement weight training program will help to burn fat by creating muscle, so things like bench press, military press, standing curls, deadlifts, etc, will work, although you need to start very light and work with good form so not to aggravate your back condition.

I would also recommend getting with a personal trainer to see what will work best with you.

increased muscle mass does lead to an increase in BMR . How significant a role this will play in weight loss depends on overall KCal intake vs expenditure.

As far as a calorie is not a calorie. While it is true that it's easier to create a caloric deficit eating "clean" foods, to say that it isn't about how much you eat is physiologically untrue. It is IMPOSSIBLE to lose weight without first creating a KCal deficit; whether through a reduction in food intake or an increase in KCal expenditure. One could, in theory, lose weight on a diet of Twinkies and PBR. They wouldn't in any way be healthy, but the scale would in fact be moving south.

Weight loss is ultimately more about actions in the kitchen than in the gym. Increased muscle does help. Increased KCal expenditure in the gym does help. However, it's much more feasible to create the KCal deficit by eating fewer calories than by burning more.

I'm trying to lean my stomach out and lose fat there for sure.

Unfortunately I don't like anything on my back due to L5 compression.... I really like the burn I'm getting in the arms 💪, and my legs 🦵 are good from biking 🚴, so just trying to tone it in the middle without giving up martini's 🍸 ....

Okay, thanks now I have a much better idea of what you're doing.

Do whatever ab workouts your comfortable with, that's also generally good practice

Unfortunately that's likely not your issue, and will not help you lean up in the stomach area.

You really need to get your calories down and pick up some more cardio. There are a lot of great tools out there to chart what you need to do, I use myfitnesspal.com they also have an iphone app to track things. You can not lean out any specific part of your body, it all comes off the same time, or in whatever order your body stores it, so working out your biceps will do as much for leaning your stomach as situps.

Regarding the martinis, steer clear of the exotics (no appletinis for god's sake for many reasons). Vodka is the alcohol that is the least damaging to your waistline. Limit it as much you can and make up for it with your diet.