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The only thing 50-55 situps will do is give you back problems.
This is exactly what happened to me back in the 80s when I first became involved in weight training and athletics. And another problem I was warned about came true: instead of the improved abs I was looking for (I've got my families "droopy gut" DNA) all I got from all those months of sit-ups was a large hump of muscle directly below my sternum, which looked kinda weird.
After the hump appeared but mostly because of the back problems, another family trait, I stopped doing the sit-ups.
What DID help my abs is the crunches I began doing nearly five years ago. At first just regular ones where you pull your legs up to your chest while keeping your back flat on the floor (while INhaling as I lower them down again which greatly reduced the pressure on my lower back), then the so-called bicycle crunches to help out with the other ab muscles. I don't have a six-pack - I'm about 40% endomorph and will probalby never have them - but I do have a very visible outline of the rectangular area where the individual six pack muscles would be. Supposedly crunches can also help strengthen your back, but since I also do other calisthenics and basic weightlifting for my arms and some sport-specific exercises* that also involve the back muscles, I am not sure how much they help. Speaking of back strength: even doing the basic lifting and calisthenics I do, my core strength has improved a lot, and find that even daily activities i.e. hauling the city's huge trash cans down to the street, moving furniture etc has become much easier and any aches that appear, disappear much faster now.
* I'm involved in folkstyle wrestling, the form of wrestling that high schools and colleges use and eventually will be getting into jiu-jitsu so I do weighted bridges, which involves holding weight on my chest while I lay on my back then "bridge up" and end up supporting all my weight on (nearly) the top of my head and the soles or just toes of my feet. I also do some reverse bridges just to make sure I help keep my bridging muscles "balanced".
If you are looking to work your abs, it probably makes sense to do several different ab exercises. Two that I am currently doing are hanging leg raises an ab wheel. It takes a while to work up to hanging leg raises. You need to start with bent knee raises, progress to using arm straps to do full hanging leg raises and then doing hanging leg raises with the arm straps. I recently started with the ab wheel and hope to be doing them from a standing position in a few weeks.
Doing a ton of sit ups is fairly meaningless. You need to mix up your ab routine and do more than basic crunches. Holding a crunch in the upright position for a longer period of time is much more effective than pumping out 100 of them.
As far as better running goes just strengthen your lower body - quads, hamstring and glutes, and you will see better results. Core work is always a plus no matter what your goal is.
Yes! And situps can be murder on your back. The place I go doesn't do situps. We do crunches and various other core/ab exercises instead.
So I have a few guys in my shop saying that sit ups are one of the most important exercises. And that it allows you to run faster, etc. the more you can do.
Any kind of truth to this?
Yes, the tighter your core the easier you move, which is why runners can go for so long.
Yes, the tighter your core the easier you move, which is why runners can go for so long.
I was somewhat surprised when I started running marathons and shorter races that many of the runners did not have great abs. You can stand around at the beginning of a marathon and see many people with "bellies." You would have a difficult time finding a good runner who owed their success to sit-ups, or even to the condition of their abs. This is not to say the ab conditioning doesn't help, but it actually plays a minimal role. Talk to someone who is a serious runner (several marathons, 10K under 40 minutes, etc.) and I'm sure they will relay similar information.
I was somewhat surprised when I started running marathons and shorter races that many of the runners did not have great abs. You can stand around at the beginning of a marathon and see many people with "bellies." You would have a difficult time finding a good runner who owed their success to sit-ups, or even to the condition of their abs. This is not to say the ab conditioning doesn't help, but it actually plays a minimal role. Talk to someone who is a serious runner (several marathons, 10K under 40 minutes, etc.) and I'm sure they will relay similar information.
Those who didn't have great abs didn't finish well either I bet.
Fact is, the tighter your abs, the less labor on your lungs to pull in air. the Diaphragm is the muscle between chest and abs that helps this process. if the abs/diaphragm is weak and flabby, you'll see the normal "bending over" by runners. those who have strong abs/diaphragms don't have to bend over like that. when they bend over they "think" they are gaining more air to the lungs by squeezing the diaphragm and pushing out the bad air to gain good, but that's not correct. the best way to inhale after a long run, is to tilt your head back with your arms up so you can expand the lungs capacity and get more air inside.
But back to the abs..the tighter the better...the Greeks knew this all too well. they built statues of themselves they were so vain about their bodies.
Those who didn't have great abs didn't finish well either I bet.
Wrong. I guess you are not a runner.
Fact is, the tighter your abs, the less labor on your lungs to pull in air. the Diaphragm is the muscle between chest and abs that helps this process. if the abs/diaphragm is weak and flabby, you'll see the normal "bending over" by runners. those who have strong abs/diaphragms don't have to bend over like that. when they bend over they "think" they are gaining more air to the lungs by squeezing the diaphragm and pushing out the bad air to gain good, but that's not correct. the best way to inhale after a long run, is to tilt your head back with your arms up so you can expand the lungs capacity and get more air inside.
But back to the abs..the tighter the better...the Greeks knew this all too well. they built statues of themselves they were so vain about their bodies.
Sure, the stronger your abs the better but my point was most runners don't have great abs. Most runners spend their time running and do little in the way of ab or weight work. There are always exceptions but I'm talking about the majority of people running a race like the Boston Marathon. The six pack abs are on people who are concentrating on their abs.
Sure, the stronger your abs the better but my point was most runners don't have great abs. Most runners spend their time running and do little in the way of ab or weight work. There are always exceptions but I'm talking about the majority of people running a race like the Boston Marathon. The six pack abs are on people who are concentrating on their abs.
we agree.
I also believe the abs come into play most in trail-running vs. open-road running. I do more trail-running and I need my abs to be rock hard to pull off those jumps and obstacles.
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