Do Crunches Work?

nikii14

I hear so many different opinions on this and wanted to hear from you guys.
I've been doing about 100 crunches each day, am I wasting my time?
I hear crunches work the muscles underneath your "skin" but will not tone up the areas.

That just doesn't make sense to me. Doing 100 EVERYDAY must do some toning right??

singfree

"Crunches" are only one component of strengthening the abdominal area. Just because you cannot see your "abs", it does not mean that you have not toned up that area. If there is a layer of fat covering the abdominal area, no amount of exercise is going to reveal the abs. You need to lose the fat layer first.

A clean diet and high intensity cardio wll help to blast the fat layer. Good luck!

hahahollylol

but isn't it possible to do both at the same time? tone up while loosing weight. I think so.

my opinion, is that she's not wasting her time, but strengthening her abs. :drinker:

shkaki

you will be strengthening your abdominal muscles, but keep in mind, you can treat your abs like every other muscle group. You probably wouldnt do 100 bicep curls every day, so there is no real need to do 100 crunches every day (unless you really like them! :happy: ). Doing 3 sets of 15 of a couple of different ab exercises, including some for your obliques and lower back would definitely help strengthen the total core area, preventing back problems, making you more stable, and keeping up with that cardio, eating healthy, and staying consistent will help you to see those well strengthened ab muscles down the road!!

TheBull50

I have been looking for my abs since I began working out. I lost 75 pounds and I know I am getting stronger in the abs area , still have the " last 10 pounds " to lose. Any tips on how to get that last layer off and see those abs?

willywonka

I do believe that crunches work especially when you do them with Cardio, cardio, cardio.
Planks are great too!!!

SarahNicole317

I have been looking for my abs since I began working out. I lost 75 pounds and I know I am getting stronger in the abs area , still have the " last 10 pounds " to lose. Any tips on how to get that last layer off and see those abs?

The best way to remove abdominal fat is to do HIIT workouts a couple of times per week. Try 100m sprints or running stairs. When you do abdominal work, remember that your abs don't know numbers so the best thing to do is burn them out every time!

Chiny

I have been looking for my abs since I began working out. I lost 75 pounds and I know I am getting stronger in the abs area , still have the " last 10 pounds " to lose. Any tips on how to get that last layer off and see those abs?

The best way to remove abdominal fat is to do HIIT workouts a couple of times per week. Try 100m sprints or running stairs. When you do abdominal work, remember that your abs don't know numbers so the best thing to do is burn them out every time!

What is HIIT workouts??

TheBull50

I have been looking for my abs since I began working out. I lost 75 pounds and I know I am getting stronger in the abs area , still have the " last 10 pounds " to lose. Any tips on how to get that last layer off and see those abs?

The best way to remove abdominal fat is to do HIIT workouts a couple of times per week. Try 100m sprints or running stairs. When you do abdominal work, remember that your abs don't know numbers so the best thing to do is burn them out every time!

I just began doing HIIT in my program. I do lifting, then 7 minutes HIIT , and back to lifting. The 7 minute HIIT is the start and each week it looks like it is going to increase. next week is 10 - 12 minutes I think and so on. should I do ABs everyday ... the lifting program i am on has ABs only 1 day a week

FluffnStuff

I shed my abdomin fat by REALLY watching what I ate (I worked out religiously though too).
I cut back on carbs (grain carbs), went low fat (only getting it from clean/whole foods), ate very clean (NOTHING processed).

I only made it to a 4-pack before life got crazy again.

LuckyLeprechaun

and don't forget about your back. if you are strengthening your stomach so much, you want to balance it out by working your back too. You ever see those guys in the gym who have a tight little six-pack, but they look all hunched over? it's because they neglected their back. their abs are actually curling up their bodies, and their back is helpless to straighten them out.
If you work one section, and don't do the opposite section, you will not look balanced.

opposites:
abs/back
biceps/triceps
quads/hamstrings
etc.
get it? for every set of muscles that push, there is another set of muscles that pull.
balance is key.

LuckyLeprechaun

I have been looking for my abs since I began working out. I lost 75 pounds and I know I am getting stronger in the abs area , still have the " last 10 pounds " to lose. Any tips on how to get that last layer off and see those abs?

The best way to remove abdominal fat is to do HIIT workouts a couple of times per week. Try 100m sprints or running stairs. When you do abdominal work, remember that your abs don't know numbers so the best thing to do is burn them out every time!

What is HIIT workouts??

high intensity interval training
google for lots of suggestions....

paulamma1

Abs are made in the kitchen.

You're welcome!

:flowerforyou:

foxyforce

I hear so many different opinions on this and wanted to hear from you guys.
I've been doing about 100 crunches each day, am I wasting my time?
I hear crunches work the muscles underneath your "skin" but will not tone up the areas.

That just doesn't make sense to me. Doing 100 EVERYDAY must do some toning right??

it is not a waste of time at all, i used to do several different kinds of crunches daily, and i had fit abs, but i was also eating healthily and doing my cardio. and it will build your muscles, which ultimately rev your metabolic rate, not a waste of time!

SHBoss1673

Here's the thing, Abs, erector spinae (all the small muscles in your lower back), and the muscles in and around your pelvis are all part of the core. You don't work these muscles to get a "six pack". The six pack is nice to look at, but it's a relatively small muscle (very thin) and doesn't do a ton of work by itself, BUT all those muscles I listed (and more) compose the group that keeps you stabalized. This is EXTREMELY important to posture, and balance. Having a strong core will help you do almost any activity, it will keep you from having a bad back, it will free up your major muscle groups to do the work they were designed for (instead of needing to help with stabalization, which they are neither designed for, nor very good at).

So that all said, can you do 100 crunches every day? Sure, it will help a little, but these muscles aren't designed to get huge and jacked, they are designed to do slow, constant work, which means they stay lean and firm, not big and bulky.

Work your crunches, do enough to keep your transverse abdominals strong, but don't go crazy, do bicycle crunches to work your rectus abdominals, do squats and lunges to work the pelvis area, do deadlifts and donkey kicks to work the gluts and hamstrings and do planks (lots of variations) and use the bosu ball for pushups to work the back and all of the abdominal muscles. There are lots of parts to the core, and they are ALL important.

As to fat covering them. It's the biggest complaint around in my experience, and a tough spot to get rid of. The only real way to do it is to get your body fat down very low (around 17 or 16% for women and around 10% or lower for men) and keep it there, you do that, and you're stomach will look very very good. And yes, High Intensity Training is good for doing this. But it's a long road, and eating right will be a huge step toward it.