Crunches???

mroberts2702

Not sure what's happening? I work my abs all the time by doing crunches, side lunges & a few other workouts but here lately the more I work my abs the more poochy they get. I have noticed my stomach looking puffy a day after I do the workouts. Would anybody know what causes this?

hamiltonba

Maybe your stomach muscles are getting bigger? When I was lifting weights, m biceps and triceps grew from the muscle growing - why not stomach too? And if there is still a layer of fat over the muscle that is why it looks bigger rather than a 6 pack.

curleesam

No idea.

I would strongly recommend checking out YouTube to check that your technique is correct though. I did this and found out I was doing reverse crunches incorrectly and I need to do loads of those to tighten my lower abs!

merrillfoster

The way I understand it (b/c I have the same problem), it's 2 things: when you work out muscles, they retain more water to help them repair themselves. And a crunch is like a bicep curl--you're building UP the muscle, increasing the muscle mass. Now, increased muscle mass means more calories burned which means weight/fat loss, which will overall lead to a smaller stomach.

erickirb

Could be water or blood going to the muscles. I know when I work my chest it looks bigger and fuller for a few hours, the same thing could be happening to your abs. You also want to make sure you are holding your abs tight in, not pushed out when performing the exercises.

morganadk2_deleted

bump

bacanbit

The personal trainer that I used to have told me that some people will experience this if they are not exhaling completely while "crunched up". I agree with checking on techniques.

Beebs33

If you have too much fat on the belly then the crunches will build your muscle and push the fat out to make your belly look bigger. I don't do crunches until I have lost belly fat. And really the ab works outs I do are leg raises, plank, and side planks. Then I do some sit up and crunches. But the planks and leg raises are the best for ab workouts.

carl1738

Two things come to mind. First, your muscles tend to retain a bit of extra water after a tough workout to help them recover. And second, your abdominal muscles may be increasing in size. Both situations will push the remaining fat outwards, making your stomach look slightly bigger. Keep up the cardio to reduce your body fat, and you may indeed see a six pack starting to show.

meggonkgonk

Yea I'm sure this isnt the whole story, but when doing Ab Pilates the instructor is very firm that you should be drawing your belly button in (towards your spine) every time you "crunch". So as to build "in" not "out"

You should know that working your abs is NOT going to make them smaller in and of itself- your body decides where and how to distribute fat so in order to shrink your tummy you need to concentrate on overall weight loss.