OK....2 questions???

Meggie_pooh

First thing first...I have been doing 500 ab crunches 5x a week for 4 weeks, now I'm only gonna do it on my alternating days (treadmill & elliptical on M-W-F and 500 ab crunches and zumba for Wii T-Th) that way my body doesn't get used to the routine and plateau! My question is, since i have ALOT of belly fat and back rolls, should I be doing something different, or will the crunches take care of that for the most part? And by doing the crunches, will I EVER have a flat tummy or is that only acheived by surgery?

And question 2...I like to make smoothies alot. should i be adding some sort of protein powder to that for better muscle tone or anything like that and if so what kind is best. I have NEVER taken care of myself, so there is DECADES of bad decisions and neglect on this body!

PS....I will NOT pay for a gym membership. I had one last year and I never went....$160 paid up front....WASTED! I am still pretty weak, so the plank is out of the question for now. I am waiting for spring to come around so i can start riding my bike and running on a regular basis not on the treadmill!

OLP76

You can do all the 500 ab crunches all you like...

You need to work the whole core area...! Top to bottom, you can't focus on just one area of the abs.

You need cardio, strength trainin'...

Look at my profile picture - that is perfect example of workin' the whole core area, and body...

Find a workout DVD you can do at home...so you don't have to pay for a gym membership.

You also need a good stable mealplan as well, and plenty of water intake

bfrice1

Although the crunches strengthen your tummy muscles, they will not, in and of themselves, give you a flat tummy. You have to burn the fat off in order to reveal the six pack you're accruing right now. Kick up whatever cardio you're doing - if you're not sweating when you're on the elliptical, you're not burning enough fat - tummy fat is the hardest to get rid of, so you really have to work at it.

As for variety, there are any number of tummy exercises you can do - pilates, exercise ball, tae bo, P90X, 30 Day Shred some dance programs all have core (tummy) working moves. Crunches aren't the only stomach strengthening exercises available, and research shows they aren't the most effective.

There are an assortment of DVDs by various trainers that feature core work for around $10-$12 a pop - if you have netflix, you could probably rent a few of them first, before choosing to purchase. Or you can check out what's at Amazon.com (if for no other reason than because they have a LOT of DVDs you can scan through in one place).

Hope that helps.

This is NOT an advertisement, is just what I did when looking for home workouts.

TIFnFIT

Cardio is the best to shed pounds..... muscle toning, ie: crunches will create lean muscle which will burn fat. I suggest you find yourself a Jazzercise class and do cardio 3-5 times per week and body sculpting 1-2 times per week. It's a no brainer workout that is fun, motivating and teaches proper technique. My guess is that if you are doing 500 crunches, you aren't doing them right and they aren't as effective as 30 crunches done right! As with anything you do..... you will only get out of it what you put into it. It's a life process not a weight loss process..... slow and steady wins the race. Good luck to you!!

MochaMixAZ

I'm not sure I'm the best authority on this, but I thought I'd toss my 2 cents in.

I like crunches, but find after awhile my body gets too used to them and they don't do much for me anymore.

So I tend to mix and match. I do some regular crunches and some on an exercise ball. I also like to do alternating side crunches (lie on your side, crunch up), scissors, and left raises. I also have done the following (pirated from website: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/New-Ab-Exercises-Can-Be-Alternatives-To-Crunches/501147

The third alternative to crunches on the floor is seated medicine ball Russian twists. In the seated twists, your knees are bent and your body is slightly reclined. By reclining, you engage your abs. Another benefit of the seated position is that there is very little stress on your neck. If you are a beginner, it is okay to perform seated twists with no added resistance, or if you'd like a challenge use a medicine ball or weight to this exercise.

The fourth alternative to crunches on the floor is side bends on a 45 degree hyper extension board. Most gyms have a slanted board that can be used for both back extensions and side bends. Side bends help to strengthen the obliques and can really challenge your oblique muscles through a large range of motion. I'd recommend side bends over side crunches on the floor because of the increased range of motion and intensity.

The fifth alternative to crunches is hanging knee raises on a Captain's Chair. Again, when you get off the floor you'll have almost no pressure on the neck. In order to perform knee raises on the Captain's Chair you need to have some upper body strength to support yourself, but if you have decent upper body strength you can really focus on your abdominals during this movement.

MochaMixAZ

.

LMac423

Cardio and strength training combined will help you out more than just crunches. Also, doing 500 crunches 5x/week is WAY too much! You should only work on your abs 2 to maybe 3 times per week depending on what your workout schedule is. Overtraining one part of your body is no good...it's pretty much the same as if you were lifting legs or doing biceps every day you workout. The muscles need time to recover and this is when the most work is done! Also, try to vary your ab workouts. I wouldn't just do straight crunches all the time...maybe add in some oblique exercises and core work, too!

You can certainly get a flat stomach just by exercise and diet and no surgery!

You can certainly add protein powder to your smoothies...just make sure its a good quality protein powder with no excess sugar or anything like that!

freerange

500 or 1 million crunches will not give you a flat belly. You need to lose the fat, and you can’t do that by exercising a certain body part to lose fat in that area. You must lose over all body fat, your body will lose it in whatever order it is pre programmed to, maybe belly first, maybe belly last.

Anyhow, get on a good diet plan/life plan I suggest looking at this website and decide if it looks like something you want to do, http://www.marksdailyapple.com/. This life plan is very effective in shedding fat, and that is what you want. You want to save and or build muscle as best you can.

In a nut shell, control your eating to lose fat, and exercise to tone and improve your overall health. And just so you can see what you have to look forward to, check out the success story threads, there are some amazing people that post before and after pics, where they have lost over 100 pounds. Not sure how much you want to lose but weather it’s 10 or 100 someone has posted their pics and it may help you visualize what you want to do.

Meggie_pooh

ty everyone for ur input. I have a long way to go here and I just want to make sure i'm doing it right =0)