No OP, eh? This particular bug needs fixed bad.
Anyway, I think crunches are the exercise you’re looking for. They suck, but they’re great for your abs. Just don’t think that they’ll give you a flat stomach; for that, you need to burn fat, and that requires cardiovascular exercise, weightlifting, and probably modifications in diet.
Odd, the GQ page said 0 replies, and last post by ultrafilter.
But basically yeah, what ultrafilter said. You want to do crunches, not sit-ups, because once your back starts lifting off the floor, your back muscles take over. Also, there’s no such thing as spot reduction. You’ll need to do aerobic exercise to lose any fat - crunches alone won’t do that for you. You can do a thousand of them a day and have rock hard abs, but still hidden underneath an inch of flab.
Yep, crunches. We do them all the time at Taekwon-do training. There are lots of different types though. Some do the lower abs, some the upper, and some the sides - dont forget the sides!
Hey, can you provide a link detailing these crunches? Cause as far as I can tell from looking at this diagram, the upper and lower abs are not separate muscles, and I can definitely feel my lower abs contract during a standard crunch.
Terms like “flatten abs” or “tighten abs” or “sculpt stomach” or “tone mid-section” are annoying. Either you’re putting on muscle or you’re not, or you’re losing fat or you’re not. Using what I call “bad personal trainer lingo” will only serve to confuse. As others have said, you need to get rid of the flab to see the muscles, and to do that you’ll need to do lots of cardio exercise. To strengthen and build your abs you’ll need crunches, but note that not everyone can have a flat stomach. It may not be in your genes. The size and shape of your internal organs may keep you from ever having a flat stomach. This is especially true with women, where simply having a uterus will keep many of them from ever having a truly flat stomach. More info about that here.
If you click on Obliques in your link, you will see you also have these side abdominal muscles. To work them, do the crunches with a twist to each side. If you keep your knees bent, and just lift up enough to get your shoulder blades off the ground, you won’t be affecting the back, and you can aim your right elbow to your left knee and vice versa.
The rectus is one muscle, but it’s a long one. Standard crunches/situps work primarily the top half. To really work the lower half do leg raises: lie supine and lift your legs just barely off the ground and hold until you must release. You can lift your legs higher, but you won’t be working them as much.
Sure, but certain crunches put more emphysis on the lower or upper abs. And dont forget the sides!
Is any type of cardio fine, or are some types better than others. Am I just as well off burning fat throughout my body dancing, as I am playing basketball, or as I am running, or any number of things?
Kevin, certain activities tend to burn calories faster than others. Check out some of the articles here.
I find that I get the most out of crunches when I shut my eyes and focus on using my stomach muscles to pull my ribcage toward my pelvis. The “crunch” motion just kind of happens. If you just “do the movement”, you might not be getting all you can out of it.
Thanks, that’s an informative website.
Max you’re right. It also is important to keep your chin pulled into your body when doing crunches. And dont have your legs wider than your hips - it’s better for your back.
Run a Google search on Kegel exercises. No, wait a minute. You said abs, not ass. Never mind.
–Nott
[sub]Where’d my OP go?[/sub]
As I explained in my non-existant OP, I have a little excess flab pertruding from my gut, and I wanna tighten it, or get rid of the flab there… how can I do it?
Crunches are no good for that specifically?
Beastal, there’s no way to spot reduce short of cutting the fat out with a knife. You’ll need to do some sort of cardiovascular exercise such as cycling or running. Also, what does “tighten it” really mean? I mean, you’re talking about fat, not a rope. You don’t want to tighten fat, you want to get rid of it. Cardio combined with crunches and other ab exercises is the way to go. There is no easy solution. It takes hard work, dedication, and good genes.
lifting your legs without bending them will work your gluteals and back NOT you abdomen. bend you knees to do crunches, leg lifts or sit-ups.
and you will have to lose weight to see the mucsle under the fat.
medically, obliques are much more important than the rectus sheath (the nice mucsle that give you a six-pack) as they support your back and intestines and also give the strength to your superficial inguinal ring which will prevent a hernia.
sit-ups and crunches only work the rectus and transversus musles and you should do other exercises to strengthen the obliques. a good one is to raise the knee diagonally across the body either while lying or standing.
the excercise does NOT have to be fast and furious or strenuous to work. slow, gentle movement where the stretch is held for 15 seconds is more beneficial and less likely to lead to injury of the back or neck.
otherwise you will end up with a six pack sitting on a beer belly and possibly a nice strangulated inguinal hernia from too many sit ups without lateral support!
Ok, well I want to get rid of some excess flab that is sitting on my gut. I mean, it’s not really much at all, I’m not fat or overweight, there’s a just an eedy beedy little bit of a gut sitting there that I want to “pull back in”.
What sort of cardio vascular work out should I try?
Running, biking, walking, stairmaster, whatever. You’ll want to do 30 minutes or so at a time to get best results.
As others have said, there’s no such thing as spot reduction. You may be unfortunate in that your gut is the last place your body will burn fat. For many, certain areas simply will not release fat until all other reserves are gone.
I do leg raises with straight legs and I can really feel it at my lower abdomen. Do you have a cite for this statement? What I do is left my legs up about 5 degrees and hold for 30 seconds, then further up about 45 degrees and hold, and then 90 degrees and hold. That’s one set.
You dont have to do much aerobic excercise to see your six pack. If you reduce your fat intake and calorie intake and do lots of crunches, the fat will reduce. Sure, aerobic excercise helps a lot, but it is not compulsory.