Hello… I’m looking for input from people who do crunches as a regular part of their exercise routine. Contemplating adding them to mine, but would rather it not be a wasted effort. Few questions, if anyone wouldn’t mind answering them.
How often do you do them? How many do you do? How long before you begin to see results?
Sharing any advice/experiences would be very much appreciated. Also, apologies if this has been done before - didn’t pop up when I searched for it. And… Sorry if I sound like a moron. Somewhat new here and self conscious. =/
Crunches don’t work as a fat burner. Spot reduction (losing fat from an area by working out that area) is a myth.
If you want abdominal endurance, they’re great. But the abs are primarily composed of fast-twitch fibers, meaning that they respond better to low reps with high weight. And the best abs in the world don’t matter if you got a gut on top of 'em.
Eat right, sleep well, and exercise well (in that order), and you’ll be better off.
Personally, I don’t bother with crunches. Squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, and wide grip overhead presses are more than enough ab work for me.
ultrafilter hit the nail on the head, if you do want an abworkout use a declined bench and hold a weight on your chest, or hang from a bar and do leg raises
Teira, you don’t mention what type of results you are looking for. Setting goals is vital to planning a good exercise program.
Consider how you will test, use, or demonstrate your fitness. Put NUMBERS on your goals: lift 200 pounds overhead… lose 20 pounds… run 1 mile in 5 minutes… whatever.
If you don’t know what your goal is, how can you tell if you’re approaching it… or getting father away?
I wrestled in high school, and was forced to do many, many crunches. I ended up with my top two ab muscles overdeveloped, to the point where they’re bigger than my chest. So yes, they work, but mostly on the top two muscles in your tummy. Here’s a picture: http://pennystheman.tripod.com/infomercial.jpg
I did learn a great ab-strengthener from my physical therapist (not fitness trainer). It might be kind of hard to describe, but it works your “inner abs”, I’d had to consult an anatomy book to clearly explain, but I think she was saying crunches work the top layer of muscle, which can actually make your stomach look bigger (as pennystheman mentiones) and this exercise works the layer of muscles below that.
So the exercise is you can be standing, sitting, or lying, but they’re easiest lying on your back. You inhale and suck in your gut as hard as you can, thinking of pulling your belly button into your ribcage. You are not lifting, just sucking. Then on your exhale, pull in even more. You should feel tightness, especially in your lower abs, deep inside. You should hold it for a little, then release it. The objective will be to be able to breathe while holding the tension for 10 secs. Do 10 reps of these and you’ll feel the delayed-onset muscle soreness of many, many crunches. They take some practice, but at least when you’re doing them, you really feel it.
I have always had a poofy tummy, even when doing crunch crunch crunches. I’ve noticed a difference after 3 weeks of doing 2-3 times a week. After trying crunches I’ve always thought they were pretty much a waste of time, but I urge you to at least try this exercise. The best benefit is the assistance the ab strength can provide to the back, for the pain, which is why I went to the physical therapist.
As the other posters have stated, if you simply want to burn fat, crunches won’t help you.
Cardio burns fat, specifically cardio at your target heart rate for extended periods of time. If you go over target heart rate, you are putting yourself at risk, and under your TRH you are merely burning carbs, and will be starving afterwards.
While standing still, muscles burn more fat than fat does. If you want to tone, crunches can work, BUT people frequently do them incorrectly, straining their neck and back.
As stated, if you overwork these muscles, it will simply make your stomach look bigger. However, the ab muscles are the only ones that heal quickly enough that you could work them daily.
Don’t do ab exercises to excess. I would say no more than 5 sets of 20 a day, and if anything besides those little muscles burn, you are doing it WRONG.
Sorry, no experience with crunches, but my daughter started bellydancing about three months ago. She does this bellyroll exercise daily, and the results have been amazing. The entire abdominal area is tighter and more defined, and her torso actually looks longer.
Thanks for the responses everyone! Pretty much looking for only tone here; not much fat to burn. I’ll definitely try the exercise you suggested, Heart… Can’t hurt. Slightly afraid of overdefinition of the upper ab muscles with crunches - I’d really rather not look unbalanced… Thanks again guys.
