Ab exercises when overweight = bad idea?!

zipperfall
zipperfall Posts: 45 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So, I recently overheard some people at the gym suggesting that doing excessive ab workouts when you're overweight can be frustrating. Their reasoning is as follows: people will gain muscle in their stomach, pushing their fat out even farther, making it look like they're bigger; this would be discouraging to someone trying to get the flat stomach.

What are your thoughts? I'd never heard it put like that, but from someone who isn't very knowledgable about fitness (at all) it seems logical...

If you agree, at what point would you say to start intensive ab workouts? I'm currently 5'6" - 143lbs. Trying to get down to 120lbs.

Replies

  • phatguerilla
    phatguerilla Posts: 188 Member
    Its silliness, abs aren't going to grow so much that they will bulge, at all. Its pretty counter productive imo, overweight people generally have lower back issues from having to support off centre weight, strengthening your abs, especially isometrically at the start with planks, should have a positive impact on a person's posture and physique and hopefully alleviate back pain.
  • gmthisfeller
    gmthisfeller Posts: 779 Member
    Its silliness, abs aren't going to grow so much that they will bulge, at all. Its pretty counter productive imo, overweight people generally have lower back issues from having to support off centre weight, strengthening your abs, especially isometrically at the start with planks, should have a positive impact on a person's posture and physique and hopefully alleviate back pain.

    +1
  • tavenne323
    tavenne323 Posts: 332 Member
    Ab work is good always. But proper form and proper exercises are a must otherwise it can cause more pain. I would think that overweight people would get frustrated because they expect "crunches" to decrease belly fat. When in fact, you can do a billion crunches and not lose any belly fat (ok, totally exaggerated).
  • jillian_fan2425
    jillian_fan2425 Posts: 167 Member
    I carry most of my extra weight in my midsection, and I haven't noticed anything like that. If I just ate a big meal, sure, but not because I did a core workout. To me, core workouts are for toning up the muscles underneath so you look really great when you finally get the excess fat off. Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon :happy: I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you.
  • ruffnstuff
    ruffnstuff Posts: 400 Member
    Well first of all, you aren't technically overweight. You might have some belly that you don't like the look of, but you aren't overweight. And that stuff you overheard...sounds like some dude broscience junk.
  • Soccermavrick
    Soccermavrick Posts: 405 Member
    My experience is it can be frustrating because with a gut you cannot see them, but they did not make my gut look bigger. And ask I lost the weight I thought they helped, not to mention Abs are part of your Core which affects every aspect of lifting. Personally it sounds like the conversations was two people making excuses.
  • madhatter2013
    madhatter2013 Posts: 1,547 Member
    Bulging abs would imply that you'd be gaining muscle which isn't possible eating at a deficit. It's never a bad idea to work your abs unless you have a medical condition preventing it.
  • hajjcomb
    hajjcomb Posts: 118 Member
    It's total bull crap.
  • samamps88
    samamps88 Posts: 52
    Its fairly pointless to be perfectly honest. Yes planks are a good additional stability exercise but whilst over weight they wont make your abs show I am 9.2% BF and my abs arent always visible which could be frustrating for people doing lots of ab exercises whilst fat will just not see reults they expect or want

    Squats and deadlifts are plenty to strengthen core to begin add more once lower BF%
  • Mindarin
    Mindarin Posts: 93 Member
    Actually, in my personal experience there IS some truth to this. Without gaining weight or changing diet, I started including ab work into my exercise. Results? I've gained two inches around my waist. So either I'm losing muscle and gaining fat at an alarming rate (which seems very unlikely) or it's the ab work that's doing it and I just haven't lost enough fat yet. (I suppose I could also be retaining water around my waist? But that's never happened before and this is a consistent thing so I doubt that as well.)

    In the long run, it shouldn't be discouraging. The goal of changing your lifestyle should not be skinniness. It should be health. I am seeing increased strength and a firmer middle. Not that I don't care what I look like, but if I have to add a couple inches to gain strength and solidness, then it's fine. I want to be able to compete in intense sports and feel good. That comes first.

    Do ab workouts because they're good for you! Not because you're going to get insane abs.
  • monstergirl14
    monstergirl14 Posts: 345 Member
    Ok, I read it and thought it was ridiculous, and I read the comments and I'm not the only one. I was worried for a moment that it might actually be true, haha! Anyway, I do a lot of core work and it's actually helping me sculpt and drop sizes. My shirts are fitting better and my belly is definitely getting smaller.
  • zipperfall
    zipperfall Posts: 45 Member
    Interesting! Thank you all for the wonderful responses.

    It's not that I wouldn't workout because I wanted to be skinnier, but that I would put more of my focus elsewhere (butt, arms, etc.)
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Ab exercises are pretty pointless in any case (by that I mean focused exercises like crunches and planks).

    If you really want to work the core (which IS a good idea), you will get plenty of "core work" doing functional free weight exercises.

    In any case, for someone with excess abdominal fat, doing any type of exercise to "target the fat" in that area is a waste of time.
  • mereditheve
    mereditheve Posts: 142 Member
    Anytime is a good time to do ab workouts, although maybe not right after a huge meal..... :)

    Like any muscle, you won't have the same definition if you have a layer of fat covering it. The same is true for abdominal muscles. There's definitely a benefit to building a strong core regardless of where you are in your weight loss journey.
  • mazmataz
    mazmataz Posts: 331 Member
    ...sounds like some dude broscience junk.

    Dude broscience junk...haha I love that! It described some of the meat-head workout logic perfectly!
  • gonefishin1282
    gonefishin1282 Posts: 44 Member
    Must be a trainer at Planet Fitness giving this "advice" :happy:
  • steve0820
    steve0820 Posts: 510 Member
    Its fairly pointless to be perfectly honest. Yes planks are a good additional stability exercise but whilst over weight they wont make your abs show I am 9.2% BF and my abs arent always visible which could be frustrating for people doing lots of ab exercises whilst fat will just not see reults they expect or want

    Squats and deadlifts are plenty to strengthen core to begin add more once lower BF%


    This ^^^^

    Squats and deadlifts for a strong trunk.

    Crunches/situps, will get you better at doing crunches/situps, they will not burn fat (takes about 250,000 of them for 1lbs), and are a weak exercises for core. Planks, vholds, l-sits, toes to bar, russian twist, are all better.

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