Abs class

bbandme

I do a mix of exercise - running, cycling, kettlebell classes, and abs classes. I enjoy all of it and that is the main thing however recently I have been reading more and more about how crunches are a waste of time. I enjoy the abs classes and it isn't just crunches, we use a kettlebell while doing various exercises; oblique twists, overhead crunches etc, I feel as though the class is helping me, my abs ache afterwards, however I wondered if anyone has any thoughts as to whether it is beneficial to keep doing this? My overall aims are to improve my fitness and my figure

AsISmile

For your figure, not really. Your body fat percentage needs to be low enough for them to be visible.
You do however want something that looks nice to be visible.

Basically, abs class strenghtens your ab muscles, which is not a bad thing. It will however not give you a nice toned stomach.
Go if you enjoy. Any form of exercise is good

Drewlssix

There have been back and forth opinions concerning sit-ups/crunches specifically since I was in high school and probably before.

There is some interesting math concerning the amount of compression the movements can generate but without a clear understanding of what's normal and what's not it's hard to know if they are just throwing scary numbers at you.

My conclusion is crunches and the like are probably not all that bad for you but there is little reason to employ them. I have begun structuring my exercise around whole body compound movements over targeting specific muscles or groups.

My reasoning is that your abs are used in pretty much every thing you do, from daily activities to any exercise that dose not have you inserted into a machine or flexing a single muscle over and over.

So unless your abs or some other muscle is lacking development or you are tending to an injury or disability I see little reason to "target" any of them.

Kettle bells are great, but I would recomend full body complex movements rather than anything intended to work one group.

LaurenAOK

I think if the class is something you enjoy, and you're doing more than just crunches, it's worth it to keep going. It's true that it might not be the most effective thing for getting ab definition, but the important part about exercise is that it gets you moving and you enjoy it enough not to give up, which sounds like the case for this ab class.

I too have read a lot about crunches and other ab moves not helping much, but I still include them in my routine. Just habit, I suppose... and I have been seeing more ab definition lately, though I'm sure that's due to a multitude of factors. As the first poster said, abs are only visible once your body fat is low enough anyway.