Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
For a women I think the road to quick visible abs is if you have narrow hips based on the girls at the gym who wear exposed waist outfits. At least in my area if you are a thin female, have narrow hips and train you have visible ab definition. Unfortunately, they tend to have smaller boobs as well. Oh well, nothing comes easy.
I was wondering if someone of an average weight could see noticeable ab results by doing standard crunches for a few months ( or some extended period of time) I would think it would give the stomach more definition and a "pulled in" type of look.. Right?? Like would make the stomach look tighter?
The wrong abs exercises cause havoc by over-working the upper abdominals and the hip flexors and under-working the lower abdominals and pubococcygeus (PC) muscle of the pelvic floor.
Excessive upper abdominal exercising bears down on the pelvic floor, stretching it and weakening it, and making it less competent in its roles of both sphincter control and dynamic abdominal suppor
The wrong abs exercises cause havoc by over-working the upper abdominals and the hip flexors and under-working the lower abdominals and pubococcygeus (PC) muscle of the pelvic floor.
Excessive upper abdominal exercising bears down on the pelvic floor, stretching it and weakening it, and making it less competent in its roles of both sphincter control and dynamic abdominal support
Any article that talks about upper/lower ab training immediately loses all credibility. There are no specific lower or upper abdominal muscles and you cannot train upper/lower separately.
Thinking you can train just one portion makes as much sense as thinking you can train either your upper or lower biceps muscle or that you can hook a bungee cord up to something and think that only one part of the bungee cord will stretch.
The rectus abdominis muscles extend from the pubic symphysis, pubic crest and pubic tubercle inferiorly, to the xiphoid process and costal cartilages of ribs V to VII superiorly. The muscle works as one whole unit. You cannot contract just the upper or lower portion.
I was wondering if someone of an average weight could see noticeable ab results by doing standard crunches for a few months ( or some extended period of time) I would think it would give the stomach more definition and a "pulled in" type of look.. Right?? Like would make the stomach look tighter?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Just A Guy
Considering that something like 60% of adults are overweight, average would be a lot of fat.
Average weight in this country is actually over weight.
Agree on the crunches being terrible for the back (but as is the norm, not worth it to waste the time arguing about it with some of the "Muscle and Fiction" types on this forum). OP, if you get an opportunity, check out some of the teachings of Dr. Stuart McGill. He gave a great lecture on the topic at the last fitness conference I attended (the meatheads get really mad at this guy and try to besmirch him every chance they get). I'd suggest this simple exercise. Pull out an old credit card and start bending it for a couple of minutes. You'll find it causes a crease and if you keep going it'll eventually break. Then ask yourself how good a repetitive motion, such as doing crunches for years could be for your spine.
I was wondering if someone of an average weight could see noticeable ab results by doing standard crunches for a few months ( or some extended period of time) I would think it would give the stomach more definition and a "pulled in" type of look.. Right?? Like would make the stomach look tighter?
For best results, hit your abs from several angles. Pull-down crunches, angle-board sit-ups, straight leg lifts while hanging from an overhead bar and rotational twists, pulling on a cable machine handle that is at waist height and straight-legged lifts while upright on an angle-board. Another form of pull-down crunch, is to pull down on a bar with straight arms and get some pectoral exercise at the same time.
Agree on the crunches being terrible for the back (but as is the norm, not worth it to waste the time arguing about it with some of the "Muscle and Fiction" types on this forum). OP, if you get an opportunity, check out some of the teachings of Dr. Stuart McGill. He gave a great lecture on the topic at the last fitness conference I attended (the meatheads get really mad at this guy and try to besmirch him every chance they get). I'd suggest this simple exercise. Pull out an old credit card and start bending it for a couple of minutes. You'll find it causes a crease and if you keep going it'll eventually break. Then ask yourself how good a repetitive motion, such as doing crunches for years could be for your spine.
Every type of exercise you do is a repetitive motion. Repetitive motions are the thing that is responsible for the training effect that increases things like strength, endurance and power. Repetitive motions are not bad in and of themselves.
There's that too. I only do things like leg lifts and planks for abs
If you're talking about the same type of leg lifts I'm thinking about, I do those with ankle weights. I also do reverse crunches. Plank is hard for beginners, I was shaking after like 5 seconds.. but I guess it's worth it. That link "worst ab exercises" says plank is bad for back though .
And for this crunches discussion- I've read in order to not strain your back while doing crunches, you just keep your spine as flat against the floor, as possible and keep abs pulled in. That's all I really know. Even though some say they're bad for the back, I've also read that strengthening the abs in general helps keep the spine in line.
If you're talking about the same type of leg lifts I'm thinking about, I do those with ankle weights. I also do reverse crunches. Plank is hard for beginners, I was shaking after like 5 seconds.. but I guess it's worth it.
And for this crunches discussion- I don't know what the verdict is on crunches being bad because I see conflicting data everywhere. I've read in order to not strain your back while doing crunches, you just keep your spine as flat against the floor, as possible and keep abs pulled in. That's all I really know. Even though some say they're bad for the back, I've also read that strengthening the abs in general helps keep the spine in line.
If you are doing leg lifts while lying on the floor, that would probably be much worse for you than any crunches you would do.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
