Hey Kelly I have a friend that says by doing sit ups you can in lose your gut. This guy has a CSCS and I am going for mine in August. I kinda looked at him a bit shocked. because as far as I know you cannot spot reduce. He says that it helps re-distributes the fat. I personally think that doing sit ups, regular cruches is a waiste of time. The only purpose of those muscles is for 1)show and 2) to pull your head to your nuts (or what ever you have down there). The muscles that I do believe serve a purpose and actually pull you stomach “in” are the inner and outer obliques and the transverse muscle of the trunk. I do like Mr. Chek’s swiss ball cruches but I also believe that they require the use of the other trunk muscles to stabalize the movement. I think that the more cruches you do the bigger the muscle will eventually get (with time). SO why not train them for a bit get to the thickness you want and then focus on the real trunk muscles. Tell me,am I out to lunch? Or should I do my 100’s of situps, like the dornes I see every day, to get rid of my gut? (note I don’t really have that huge of a gut “just bulking” ha) I don’t agree with this theology of many situps but then again I ahave only been on this planet for 23 years, and am always learning.
Thanks
Phat O
What muscles are you referring to as “only purpose is to show and to pull your head to your nuts”? Crunches and situps are a waste of time? I think you both need a refresher on the abdominal region and the physiological likelihood of spot reduction. I may agree with you if you refined the statement to crunches from the floor are mostly a waste of time, but crunches across a bench or a ball are very useful for developing all layers of the ab wall if done correctly. “train them a bit to get the thickness you want and then focus on the real trunk muscles”? What do you mean by this statement, are the rectus abdominus, exterior and interior obliques, and ilio-psoas not real trunk muscles?
You can’t spot reduce. Doing hundreds of situps or any exercise, weighted or not, won’t make the big lump of fat on your gut go away. Diet and cardio will. However despite what the new age gurus say, although bent-knee situps aren’t the most effective ab exercise, they do work. If you can do a hundred or so of these, your abs are going to be strong and tight. Before there were Reverse Swiss Ball Crunches and Stability Core Twists, there were situps. And there were Abs.
bah only a fool would do hundreds of situps…its either 1-12 or thousands
yeah I was talking about from the floor on the bech or the swss ball works really good with a weight
I imagine this guy you refer to will have a hard time passing his CSCS if he still believes that doing a ton of sit-ups will help reduce the size of his gut. I like the sit-up movement myself but I feel the old “anchor your feet in place and get to it” version is out-dated." Try this little tip…anytime you do abdominal movements consisting of trunk flexion try to activate the hamstrings while you’re doing them. What this does is relax the hip flexors and allows greater abdominal muscle isolation. You won’t be able to do as many reps though.
He’s wrong, you’re right. Sound’s like the functionality of your abdominals is more important to you. If you’re happy with your abs, try looking at your ab training from this angle. Refering specifically to Rectus Abdominus, it Originates on your pelvis, and inserts to your rib cage. Outside of flexion of the spine (cruches, sit-ups), Rectus abdominus is used in squats, deadlifts, bent rows, bench presses and tons others. The idea is that by maintaining an isometric contraction in your Rectus Abdominus maintains a Normal Lordodic Curve and helps take strain away from the Erector Spinae. While erector spinae is many times stronger than rectus abdominus, by employing this technique, the Erectors aren’t as shortened during these exercises and is less prone to spasm among other things. Anyone else out there with a Kin background to weigh in?
As far as obliques, Transverse abdominus - I tend to train them myself and in clients specific to their sport/activity.
Kelly he already has his CSCS I am going for it in AUG and he is my boss