sit ups

[holly11]

will these help your abs or not?
i am sick of people telling me different things. people tell me that sit ups are good for your abs and then people tell me that they dont do anythink just push your belly out so what do the do. i do 150 every other day and 300 at the gym. is there ant point me doing these are they helping me or not help please x

[Taekwondo Guy]

yes sit ups will help to build your abdominal muscles

[mitchcumstein]

Doing that many sit ups is a complete waste of time. All you need to do is 3 sets of 12 crunches. How you do them is more important. Its not a race. Go up, hold the contraction and squeeze for 5 seconds, then release and go back down. After 36 of those I guarantee your abs will be burning. But doing these alone will not show your abs. You have to 'diet' them out like others here have said.

[holly11]

Originally Posted by mitchcumstein

Doing that many sit ups is a complete waste of time. All you need to do is 3 sets of 12 crunches. How you do them is more important. Its not a race. Go up, hold the contraction and squeeze for 5 seconds, then release and go back down. After 36 of those I guarantee your abs will be burning. But doing these alone will not show your abs. You have to 'diet' them out like others here have said.

k thank you for your advice

[narcsarge]

Originally Posted by mitchcumstein

Doing that many sit ups is a complete waste of time. All you need to do is 3 sets of 12 crunches. How you do them is more important. Its not a race. Go up, hold the contraction and squeeze for 5 seconds, then release and go back down. After 36 of those I guarantee your abs will be burning. But doing these alone will not show your abs. You have to 'diet' them out like others here have said.

Bump^^ Breathe out completely during the crunch and hold as mitch states. Really gets a burn. Add to your routine, cable crunches from the high pulley machine in the gym. This will give you a good ab development work out. I personally avoid situps. Whether it is true or not I don't know but I was told that a regular sit up, on the floor, will irritate your coxix (tail bone) and lower spine.

[holly11]

Originally Posted by narcsarge

Bump^^ Breathe out completely during the crunch and hold as mitch states. Really gets a burn. Add to your routine, cable crunches from the high pulley machine in the gym. This will give you a good ab development work out. I personally avoid situps. Whether it is true or not I don't know but I was told that a regular sit up, on the floor, will irritate your coxix (tail bone) and lower spine.

ok thank you do use all the abs stuff at the gym but little improvement i could be doing it wrong dont no.

[sundaygirl]

I stopped doing situps as they caused a pressure sore , i do crunches and other stomach strengthening exercices now. there are loads out there to work that area.

sunday

[holly11]

Originally Posted by sundaygirl

I stopped doing situps as they caused a pressure sore , i do crunches and other stomach strengthening exercices now. there are loads out there to work that area.

sunday

thanks

[narcsarge]

Originally Posted by holly11

ok thank you do use all the abs stuff at the gym but little improvement i could be doing it wrong dont no.

Diet is 80 to 90% of your program. Correct eating will help in building muscle and reducing fat. It may take some time but stick with it.

Originally Posted by sundaygirl

I stopped doing situps as they caused a pressure sore , i do crunches and other stomach strengthening exercices now. there are loads out there to work that area.

See! I did have it right. Phew....

[Trix]

Pilates exercises are great for the stomach. It's "precision" work and you do have to push all the air out and hold certain positions. There's a ton of great Pilates workouts out there, it's easy to grab a basic one and target those abs.

Nutrition is indeed what will show that 6 pack in the end.

I like to use a small medicine ball to do some of the crunches exercises too (to add resistance).

Holding the contracted position for a few seconds will definitely make you feel the burn

The old fashion full "sit-up" doesn't fully target the abs because a lot of people use the muscles in their quadriceps and hips (hip flexors) to give them momentum to come up and that releases the abs in part, so it's not a very effective way to work the abs because they are not isolated properly.

[Noir]

Defined abs are all about what you eat. Strong abs are about what you eat but that is where the training comes in.

[jennyd]

Sit up, crunches, and any abdominal work with help build and strengthen your stomach.
However, if you are not eating correctly, or if your bodyfat is too high, you won't see those abdominal muscles. What you would be doing is building the muscle underneath the fat that you have there, which, in turn will make your stomach look bigger.
I stand by my theory of not having to kill yourself with abdominal workouts because you may not realize that you use your core during so many other excercises, that if you keep your abs tight while you do them, you will be strengthening your ab muscles also.
Don't get me wrong, I do ab work, but I don't go crazy or freak out about them.

[holly11]

Originally Posted by jennyd

Sit up, crunches, and any abdominal work with help build and strengthen your stomach.
However, if you are not eating correctly, or if your bodyfat is too high, you won't see those abdominal muscles. What you would be doing is building the muscle underneath the fat that you have there, which, in turn will make your stomach look bigger.
I stand by my theory of not having to kill yourself with abdominal workouts because you may not realize that you use your core during so many other excercises, that if you keep your abs tight while you do them, you will be strengthening your ab muscles also.
Don't get me wrong, I do ab work, but I don't go crazy or freak out about them.

ok thanks

[vaberella]

I'm with the guy/girl who mentioned pilates. I get bored and never get around to doing crunches or sit ups---and I never do sit ups or crunches properly enough because of my arse.

To briefly explain, my arse is very large, so when I lay on my back you can actually see the arch of my spine and there's an apparent passage where my lower back does not meet the floor.

So I find doing things like pilates and yoga----where I work out my core with my legs in the air---allow me to work my core while my lower back is on the floor and I don't go through very bad back pain. Just something to try...not to mention it's an all around body workout...so it's fun and low key but your abs will love you for it.

Not to mention the key to having toned abs is actually diet not anything to do with crunches. Pretty much under the layer of fat everyone has a six pack--the core work out just helps your back to remain strong and keeps your upper and lower body in line.

But if you're really looking for serious abs?! Then lose weight, I think your fine, but what your looking for is mainly found in a really clean diet. There are body builders who never do crunches or ab work outs, they find that they get core exercises done while doing other workouts and they also have super super clean diets.

Try to take out lower your mono saturated fats, and if you can eliminate your poly. Stick to taking in saturated fats like butter and coconut oil. It's proven health fact that people on coconut oil--as a staple in their diet are actually leaner and live longer than those who aren't. Check out stats on people from Thailand. Also think about high protein and lower your carb intake and do this for a month with your regular cardio and workout regime...you might see a difference.

[howardalex]

bump lowering body fat's more important if you want to see them, but it does good to do some sit ups every so often just to make it feel tight...

IMO you should stick a 5lb weight behind your head and do about 30 on a decline - 1 to the left, 1 in the middle, 1 to the right and repeat 'til you get to 30...