I've Got A Question

haydensmommy30
haydensmommy30 Posts: 65
in Fitness and Exercise
Kind of curious as to if anyone counts crunches as cardio. Reason I ask is because, if I do crunches I will do them for and entire hour (only because I'm watching one of my shows on tv LOL!!). By the time my show is finished I'm tired and sweaty. Not dripping sweat, but noticeable. What are your views?? :flowerforyou:

Lifestyle Change: June 5, 2012 (298 lbs)
Using MyFitnessPal: July 17, 2012 (280 lbs)
Current Weight: October 1, 2012 (246 lbs)
Total Loss: 52 lbs!!!!

Thank you,
Elizabeth :love:

Replies

  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    I don't have an answer, but I am very impressed you can do crunches for an hour! :drinker:
  • leojsivad
    leojsivad Posts: 124 Member
    Well, if you are getting your heart rate up, then you may be getting some cardio benefit from it.

    Quantifying the amount of calories you burned is a bit trickier, and may require you to use a heart rate monitor.
  • spangey13
    spangey13 Posts: 294
    I log mine as "calisthenics".
    I just learned that word the other day. Haven't said it out loud yet though.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    The definition is exercise which raises heart rate and respiration. To qualify as light cardio, you would have to figure out what your maximum heart rate is and figure out what percentage of that max you are reaching while doing that exercise.
  • mollajo
    mollajo Posts: 2 Member
    I would like to know why they don't have ZUMBA on the exercise charts. thanks
  • haydensmommy30
    haydensmommy30 Posts: 65
    I don't have an answer, but I am very impressed you can do crunches for an hour! :drinker:

    It's taken me a few months to get up to that and also I don't do it everyday. I wish I had time to watch Tv everyday lol!! But believe me by the time I'm done, I have to scrape my body off the floor. If my husband is home, he has to help me up lol!! :laugh:
  • haydensmommy30
    haydensmommy30 Posts: 65
    I would like to know why they don't have ZUMBA on the exercise charts. thanks

    Yep I would like to know the samething too. I just use aerobics, which gives me 530 calories burned. Not sure if its correct or not but it works for me. I did just see the infomercial on the new zumba that's out and it said you can burn up to 1000 calories in 1 hour!!! I wonder for weight group you have to be in for that amount burned?
  • haydensmommy30
    haydensmommy30 Posts: 65
    I log mine as "calisthenics".
    I just learned that word the other day. Haven't said it out loud yet though.

    Haha!! I'm saying it out loud right now, but not sure if i'm saying it right. Lol!!!
  • haydensmommy30
    haydensmommy30 Posts: 65
    Well, if you are getting your heart rate up, then you may be getting some cardio benefit from it.

    Quantifying the amount of calories you burned is a bit trickier, and may require you to use a heart rate monitor.

    I really do need to get one. I don't trust the computers on the machines at the gym. There have been a couple of times that after doing the stationary bike for any hour, my calories burned are under 100. Idk maybe it could be right, but I sure don't feel like i've only buned 100 or less once I get off of the bike.
  • haydensmommy30
    haydensmommy30 Posts: 65
    The definition is exercise which raises heart rate and respiration. To qualify as light cardio, you would have to figure out what your maximum heart rate is and figure out what percentage of that max you are reaching while doing that exercise.

    Oh that sounds like college algebra to me lol!! So I think I'll just continue not logging my crunches, and keep them as just a little extra. It makes me feel good and proud of myself when I've done a little extra activity in a day.
  • amswanson3
    amswanson3 Posts: 37 Member
    I've worn my HRM monitor while doing crunches. It barely gets my heart rate to 110.
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
    I would log it under the cardio section using "strength training" as the exercise. You're not burning enough calories to record it as true cardio. Crunches are strength training.
  • Jynus
    Jynus Posts: 519 Member
    I would log it under the cardio section using "strength training" as the exercise. You're not burning enough calories to record it as true cardio. Crunches are strength training.
    no crunches are not. strength training by definition is maximal effort. crunches are not maximal effort.
  • KatKisses
    KatKisses Posts: 296 Member
    I log mine as "calisthenics".
    I just learned that word the other day. Haven't said it out loud yet though.

    hahhahahah yes this
  • 77tes
    77tes Posts: 8,468 Member
    I log mine as "calisthenics".
    I just learned that word the other day. Haven't said it out loud yet though.

    Me, too! I also log pushups under calisthenics (which I hate to spell) because they definitely make me sweat and get out of breath.
  • rikisue206
    rikisue206 Posts: 99 Member
    I think that you should. I input my weight lifting/strenght training in under Cardio, because no matter what your heart rate is going up and you are burnign calories. There is a weight lifting/strenght training selection under the Cardio option.

    Also, Nice progress!
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    Sit-ups are in the database. But they over estimate calories quite a bit. My HR is around 110 when I do crunches. So far everything I've done since I got my HRM is at least 50 calories burned under what MFP says it burns.
  • rikisue206
    rikisue206 Posts: 99 Member
    Well, if you are getting your heart rate up, then you may be getting some cardio benefit from it.

    Quantifying the amount of calories you burned is a bit trickier, and may require you to use a heart rate monitor.

    I really do need to get one. I don't trust the computers on the machines at the gym. There have been a couple of times that after doing the stationary bike for any hour, my calories burned are under 100. Idk maybe it could be right, but I sure don't feel like i've only buned 100 or less once I get off of the bike.

    I highly recommend that you do! I have loved mine and it had really boosted my weight loss knowing what I am actually doing!
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    By the way, awesome job being able to do sit-ups for a full hour!
  • HMToomey
    HMToomey Posts: 276
    I would like to know why they don't have ZUMBA on the exercise charts. thanks

    Yep I would like to know the samething too. I just use aerobics, which gives me 530 calories burned. Not sure if its correct or not but it works for me. I did just see the infomercial on the new zumba that's out and it said you can burn up to 1000 calories in 1 hour!!! I wonder for weight group you have to be in for that amount burned?

    Because it's not able to get averaged between every person. You only get out of it what you put in. I go to class Sunday morning and "Half-@ss" it and burn 550 calories. I go Friday night and tear up the floor, high knees, advanced jacks, literally kick my own butt in some moves and burn between 700 - 800. A heart rate monitor will always be the best option to figure it out. I have a $30 sport line one and I get numbers up in the 1,000's but then I subtract 30% to be on the safe side.

    HTH!
  • robertmc3000
    robertmc3000 Posts: 9 Member
    you don't need to do so many crunches
    cardio will do most the shaping there
    when we gain weight the first place it goes is our stomachs
    to trim the midsection the best thing you can do is run or at the gym treamill/stairs
    with high intensity cardio
  • mskidy
    mskidy Posts: 3 Member
    I would count them! You are using muscles. And good for you for an hour of crunches:smile:
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Sit Ups are right there in the database or you can log them as calisthenics.

    While I'm impressed that you'll can and will do situps for an entire hour, that's not going to help improve the way your stomach looks at all. If you want to remove fat from your stomach or have abs that you can see, spend that hour doing large, full bodyweight exercises.

    Spend that hour watching your shows doing bodyweight squats, push ups, planks, and lunges. Know what? Go ahead and knock out five minutes of crunches/ab work at the end, if you're just dying to do some crunches. You don't need too any, but if you want to, I won't try to talk you out of a couple of sets.

    Actually, these exercises will be so beneficial that you can just do half an hour of them and relax and enjoy the back 30 mins of your shows.
  • nsemrau
    nsemrau Posts: 23 Member
    If you can do crunches for an hour, I would consider bumping up the difficulty and hitting different parts of your abdominal muscles so you get more out of your time.
    Strength training to technical failure can really get your HR up, and takes a fraction of the time. I can do a decent chest, back, biceps, triceps, and abs workout in about 45-50 minutes, and believe me, my HR is up and I'm covered in sweat by the time I'm done.

    For example, for your abductor exercises, swap your crunches for some jackknives, and mix some obliques in there, back-to-back, without stopping.
    I usually do three sets of each with as little rest between them as possible, doing as many reps per set as I can possibly do before my form is no longer correct (technical failure).
    Jacknife Situps: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/RectusAbdominis/WtJackKnifeSitUp.html
    Twisting situps: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Obliques/BWTwistingSitUp.html
    (or twisting crunches: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Obliques/BWTwistingCrunch.html)

    After that, I guarantee that you'll notice your HR is higher, you will have worked your abs a bit harder, and you'll be done in 1/5 of the time.
  • nsemrau
    nsemrau Posts: 23 Member
    Totally agree. I typically finish a workout with a set of ab exercises, but the real benefit comes from the large muscle groups: chest/back or legs/shoulders.

    (This was supposed to be a reply to DavPul)
  • jroselive2012
    jroselive2012 Posts: 129
    I would log it under the cardio section using "strength training" as the exercise. You're not burning enough calories to record it as true cardio. Crunches are strength training.

    Great advice!! Sounds like strengh training to me, too.
  • Wonderob
    Wonderob Posts: 1,372 Member
    I would log it under the cardio section using "strength training" as the exercise. You're not burning enough calories to record it as true cardio. Crunches are strength training.

    Great advice!! Sounds like strengh training to me, too.

    I've heard as a rough guide that if you can do more than 20 reps - it is NOT strength training

    Lifting a pencil up and down 1000 times is not strength training, but if it increases your heart rate then you may get some cardio benefit. Same as doing the crunches
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
    Sit Ups are right there in the database or you can log them as calisthenics.

    While I'm impressed that you'll can and will do situps for an entire hour, that's not going to help improve the way your stomach looks at all. If you want to remove fat from your stomach or have abs that you can see, spend that hour doing large, full bodyweight exercises.

    Spend that hour watching your shows doing bodyweight squats, push ups, planks, and lunges. Know what? Go ahead and knock out five minutes of crunches/ab work at the end, if you're just dying to do some crunches. You don't need too any, but if you want to, I won't try to talk you out of a couple of sets.

    Actually, these exercises will be so beneficial that you can just do half an hour of them and relax and enjoy the back 30 mins of your shows.
    ^

    I was bout to say, one could do a number of compound exercises in an hour to much greater affect

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