Stomach Crisis!

[world_peace0]

Sometimes, I am becoming over weight so my stomach is getting flabby. Other than cardio, what can I do gain muscle on my abs? I know you have to get down to a certain body weight percentage in order to see the abs, but I'm not concerned with that. only with putting some muscle on them. Now, I've heard of weighted crunches, but when I try it it doesn't work right for me. So, what do you all suggest....Thanks for your input.

[Filero]

Apologies for not answering exactly the question you asked, but I always try to talk people out of doing "ab workouts". Building up one particular muscle group and not its antagonists and helpers is a surefire way to develop posture problems and ultimately back injuries. That's what doing lots of ab work in isolation will get you. I know the term "core" is trendy now, but nevertheless, it's the right concept -- build all the muscles in the trunk, and you'll look better, feel better, and achieve what you want.

The first line of attack here is to do exercises that require you to brace the trunk -- squats, deads, snatches, etc. Next line of attack is to hit the core from every angle, using exercises that do much less isolating than crunches do. Kneeling ab wheel rollouts, L-sits, chinnies, russian twists, good mornings, supermans, etc., should be the staple exercises in your core workouts -- not crunches.

[Scott Bolinger]

this is my basic ab work out

For ab work:
75 sit-up
20 kickouts
10 figure 8
10 circles
10 side leg lifts
10 arm overs
10 side crunches

I usually try and get in a warm up with jump rope or jogging a couple miles, then stretch. Maybe go throught a general routine, then run this ab work out as well as some push ups. then maybe a few rounds on the bag.

or, i might do a quick warmup , light stretch, then run circuits on the bags and every 3 or 4 rounds i'd take a break from the bag work and run this ab work, then do another set of 3 or 4 on the bags. That weigh you getting in more sit-ups. Wich on the average , you should be doing 300 sit-ups per day. It don't necessarily need to be all at once, break it up if need be.

[Paul-M]

getting abs and simply doing stomach exercises won't remove stomach flab.
Scott Bolinger's ab workout seems very good but I would recommend adding twisting situps aswell. All these exercises are good for building muscles and making a good sixpack but it won't be visible if you have flab, and no ab workout burns fat very effectively. I recommend good diet and cardio aswell for quick results.

[DickHardman]

those exercise balls can allow you to hit your abbs and lower back from many different angles.

[legshot420]

sorry to hijack this thread, but which are better, crunches or full sit-ups? i heard from someone that sit-ups are bad for your back.

[Paul-M]

yeah crunches are better, full sit ups are bad for the back and not as effective for the abs anyway. Try crunching and twisting to the side when you get to the top, this allows you to hit parts of your abs normal crunches won't affect.

[FitnessRubber]

Originally Posted by legshot420

sorry to hijack this thread, but which are better, crunches or full sit-ups? i heard from someone that sit-ups are bad for your back.

definitely crunches, with variations like twisting. sit-ups are bad for the back and can be bad for the neck as well.

[Mike Brewer]

Originally Posted by world_peace0

Sometimes, I am becoming over weight so my stomach is getting flabby. Other than cardio, what can I do gain muscle on my abs? I know you have to get down to a certain body weight percentage in order to see the abs, but I'm not concerned with that. only with putting some muscle on them. Now, I've heard of weighted crunches, but when I try it it doesn't work right for me. So, what do you all suggest....Thanks for your input.

Diet will go farther than any abdominal exercise could hope to.

That's my downfall as well.

[Mike Brewer]

Sorry. I hadn't read Paul-M's response before I posted. He's right, though.

[Hot_Wings]

Why do you say that weighted crunches do not work for you?

To be able to better advise you, you need to be honest with us about your current physical condition. How much overweight are you? If you imply that you are too overweight for your stomach muscles to show at all then you are grossly overweight and should not be doing weighted crunches at all.

I am worried that you may give yourself a hernia attempting to give yourself “Abs” instead of working harder on more cardio. Not too many people say that they have an “ab” problem and claim that they don’t need more cardio.

If you are doing weighted crunches and they are not working for you then you are too fat. It is not a complicated matter. The fact that you have eliminated “More Cardio” as what you need tells me that most likely “More Cardio” is exactly the thing that you need. Otherwise, you are overeating and over eating a lot of the wrong foods.

Cut the intake, Do the Crunches, do the cardio and you will see the results.

Stop lying to yourself or you will never see much improvement.

[FitnessRubber]

Originally Posted by Mike Brewer

Diet will go farther than any abdominal exercise could hope to.

That's my downfall as well.

I think that's most people's downfall...