To abs or not to abs that is the question

abbietaylor1

Hi! I would be really grateful for any advice you can offer regarding abs exercises. I am currently still obese although working to get down to a healthy weight. In terms of exercise at the moment I have been running on average 3x a week for the past few months and the last couple of weeks I have now incorporated free weights (only light!) to try to tone my arms and do squats and lunges. My question is - is it worth me incorporating abs exercises yet or would I be better to wait until I have lost more weight off my tummy? I find sit ups really hard due to my size and the weight I am carrying round my middle at the moment so didn't want to waste time on that yet if I could be focuses more on exercises I can do and then turn to abs exercises once the weight is down.

Thanks!

StealthHealth

As you're aware - those abs are not going to show until the fat comes down, so that is your priority and you;re working towards that, well done.

The squats (although light) will work your core somewhat and you may benefit form some ab specific work but not as much as you would benefit from a structured full body strength plan which you use along side some cardio, flexibility work, and any other exercise/activities you enjoy.

Short answer: I wouldn't add in specific abs work but I'd look into more/full body weight work.

FNAkun

It's never too early to begin incorporating a certain type of exercise into your gym routine. It's one of my biggest regrets when I look back on me losing weight and I wish I pushed myself to do more with weight training from the get go. It's all good now though, because I squat 220LBS and do plenty of weight training 3x a week!

But to answer your question, I'd suggest starting off with Planking as it's one of the easiest Ab related exercises to do, and you can literally do it anywhere as long as you have a solid floor. Be sure to look up form videos and look into tips on how to maintain proper form though, because while being the easiest Ab exercise to perform, it's the easiest to perform incorrectly as well. From there I suggest looking into getting an Ab Wheel or something similar for a more intensified workout. Using the Roman Chair and doing Dragon Flys would be the best thing to do after you've mastered the first two, which will take a few months for sure.

Be sure that you incorporate other exercises into your weight training routine eventually though! It's going to look very strange if you do only Ab exercises and have 10/10 Abs and you have completely average everything else

willbriggs2

Surely ab work will always be beneficial?
Even if it's not for an aesthetic purpose, then you'll benefit from the increase in core strength...

StealthHealth

willbriggs2 wrote: »

Surely ab work will always be beneficial?
Even if it's not for an aesthetic purpose, then you'll benefit from the increase in core strength...

Agree, but where time is limited OP would be best working on what gives her the best band for her buck. That is why I recommended full body strength work before adding in abs work.

Jams009

I'd also recommend a full body weights routine. Deadlifts, squats and bench press will hit just about everything, including your core.

punkrockgoth

If you want to do sit ups, it can be easier to do them with straight legs and I have found it to be easier than fighting my stomach pushing them out of the way. There are also tons of ways to work your abs and core that don't involve crunches. To answer your question, it's not too early to incorporate ab/core exercises.

Here are a bunch of no crunch ab exercises. These can be done at home or in a gym and the ones with resistance bands/weights can be done without. Your range of motion will be small to begin with, but it will get better with time.

Edited to +1 what others are saying about doing full body compound moves. I didn't really address that because it wasn't your direct question. Also other here are more skilled than I am in that department.

abbietaylor1

punkrockgoth wrote: »

If you want to do sit ups, it can be easier to do them with straight legs and I have found it to be easier than fighting my stomach pushing them out of the way. There are also tons of ways to work your abs and core that don't involve crunches. To answer your question, it's not too early to incorporate ab/core exercises.

Here are a bunch of no crunch ab exercises. These can be done at home or in a gym and the ones with resistance bands/weights can be done without. Your range of motion will be small to begin with, but it will get better with time.

Edited to +1 what others are saying about doing full body compound moves. I didn't really address that because it wasn't your direct question. Also other here are more skilled than I am in that department.

Wow those no crunch ab exercises look great - I literally had no idea there were so many ways to hit abs! Thank you.


Thank you everyone also for all the great encouragement and advice. I'm relatively new to working out (except for running which I have done on and off for a number of years) so will need to look a bit more into this I think! In terms of "full body weight work" - what exactly is this? (Sorry if that's a stupid question) _ I would like to get the most I could out of a weights / body workout session after I come back from a run so would really max only want to spend about 15 minutes on this and then maybe once a week I can then do a longer 30-45 minute session if I knew enough exercises to perform!

HamsterManV2

Build muscle and lose fat - together they create abs / a lean muscular body. Any method you want to go about this works.

I personally would do resistance training first, then cardio afterwards (and eating at a deficit the whole time), but whatever works for you. The #1 most important thing about a workout is actually doing it. Efficiency means squat if you don't like it / don't show up.