Do I have ABS??

Nonibug

Because if I do I certainly cant see them!!:laugh: I am curious as to whether the belly fat will eventually start to melt away and I might actually have a waist?? I am being honest by saying that when i do crunches, I dont FEEL anything. Im never sore the next day...am I doing something wrong or is there a more effective abs exercise when you have ALOT of belly fat?:embarassed:

Boy, I am sure am needy in the advice dept today:blushing:

~Roni

Nonibug

Because if I do I certainly cant see them!!:laugh: I am curious as to whether the belly fat will eventually start to melt away and I might actually have a waist?? I am being honest by saying that when i do crunches, I dont FEEL anything. Im never sore the next day...am I doing something wrong or is there a more effective abs exercise when you have ALOT of belly fat?:embarassed:

Boy, I am sure am needy in the advice dept today:blushing:

~Roni

dr_sus

Until the fat is gone you probably won't see the abs. If you keep up the good work, once the fat is gone you will see all the muscle that you have built up underneath. There is really no way to "spot train", that is to remove fat in just one area. but increasing your muscle mass in general will increase your metabolic rate and you will lose rate faster so there is no harm in building some muscles. if you are not feeling sore maybe you are not doing enough of the exercises or using high enough weights.

Nonibug

So I should just keep on doing those crunches and althought Im not feeling anything, its doing something? I can try to do more crunches, but I dont think I can add more weights for that...lol. What normally gets sore from doing them is the upper part of my back, not my abs.

I just dont think that I am doing something right....? I know that the weight will begin to fall off with my cardio workouts and walking and strength training and eating better, but I dont want to end up with all my belly fat hanging there in a big blob:laugh:

~Roni

flcaoh

I totally know how you feel. I had never felt my abs before either until about 2 months ago. And I was in the Army for 3 years and did more crunches and situps than any normal person should ever do in one lifetime LOL. 2 months ago I did this exercise where I sat on the exercise ball near a wall with one hand on the wall to balance myself and did alternating knee to elbow crunches. Ouch. All I can say is try all different kinds of ab exercises... regular situps and crunches never did anything for me. I always wondered if I was doing them wrong too, and maybe I was... but I finally found something that works!!! Although I still have too much belly flubber to really see any muscles LOL.. so I can't help ya there. But I was definitely sore for a few days afterward.

Good luck!

Nonibug

Thanks for the advice flcaoh!:flowerforyou:

I will try to mix it up a little bit and experiment with other forms of ab exercises...Im willing to try anything!:laugh:

~Roni

runnerdad

Hi Roni, me again!
if your upper back is getting sore and not your abs, then you are probably 'cheating' by forcing your head and neck forward while not engaging your abs. Try keeping your back and neck aligned. Two ways to help are to find a point on the ceiling above you, and keep looking at it as you crunch - keeps your gaze up so you're not forcing your neck. Second option is to keep your arms in front, with your wrists crossed over your neck. That will help to engage your abs and avoid 'the cheat'.
You can also do variations on the basic crunch, like scissors lifts or 'stationary biking". For scissor lifts, lay on your back with your legs straight. Raise one leg perpendicular to the floor and then crunch your upper body. Lower that leg and repeat with the other leg. (for extra work, keep the down leg an inch off the floor rather than resting it on the floor). Biking crunches, start on your back, legs straight. Flex one leg, bringing your knee to (across) your chest, while crunching your upper body, while rotating your opposite shoulder toward your knee (left shoulder to right knee, right shoulder to left knee). Gives your obliques a good workout! You'll feel these!!

Nonibug

I just you runnerdad!:flowerforyou:

Gonna try this and I will let you know how it goes!

Thank you sooo much for taking the time to read my posts and offer me such good advice, you remind me of Dr Phil (thats a compliment in my book lol), such practical, common sense, good advice! The kind of thing that makes you say ah-haaa!

~Roni

allaboutme

you should feel it, your stomach muscles should get tired, like your leg or arm muscles do when you are exercising them. It isn't about how many you can do, it is about doing them right. When you are in position, before starting, try clenching your stomach mucles (everyone has some ) and you will feel the muscles you should be engaging.. Crunches can easily be done wrong and you can waste your time. I usually try keeping my stomach muscles tensed through the whole crunch, so when you release it you can really feel you were working them. If you do that though you need to remember to keep breathing. it is easy to hold your breath when you are crunching. Here is a good site to maybe better explain how to do them. http://www.flat-stomach-exercises.com/ab-crunches.html

Nonibug

Thanks for the website allaboutme:flowerforyou: Off to check it out now!

~Roni

fancyshawl

I would have to say, it's not about the crunches. If you're going to vary it up a bit, which is good, I would also consider Pilates. It really helps your core, and eventually your stomach will be stronger to help you in daily activities instead of your back. Also, I'm assuming that you're watching your caloric intake through MFP so keep that up. One more thing--from what I've been reading on these forums and through the trainers at my gym--give Cardio a chance! Your body can be transformed if you devote 1/3 to Strength training, 1/3 to Cardio, and 1/3 to Nutrition. But what I've discovered through MFP (unless I'm missing it), there is no calorie tracker for any strength training exercises. For example, you type in that you did 20 crunches, but it doesn't tell you that you burned any calories. So, how will you know how many you burned? The only place it tells you is when you enter your Cardio workout. That's a safety net, so you know how many more calories you can eat for the day without going over.

Nonibug

Yes fancy...I too have noticed that you dont get any calorie burning "credit" for any strength training entered. I wonder why that is? I cant imagine that we are supposed to log everything under cardio, if so, why would they have a log for strength training?:happy:

~Roni