Ab workout for a tubby fella

HeidiMightyRawr

When you target a specific area, you are working and developing the muscle there, but not reducing the fat there any faster. Body fat is lost all over, and is achieved by a calorie deficit. Where you store most fat, and where it comes from first / last is determined pretty much by genetics.

I'm not saying ab exercises aren't good. They develop your abs so if that's what you want then it's great. Once you lose the fat, you'll have more definition to show off rather than just a flat stomach. Combine these with a good all over exercise routine, and a good diet (small/moderate calorie deficit) and you'll likely get the results you're looking for with time.

wareagle8706

Are you guys doing these crunches consecutively or are you breaking them into sets? I'm confused.... no one should be doing 100 crunches in a row without stopping. It means you're doing it wrong.....

Doing it wrong in what way please? I do 4 x 100 and it doesn't feel wrong to me!

LOL 400 crunches?! A bit excessive, eh? Or are you just bragging? Video or it never happened... :noway:

That's very rude isn't it? I do my 4 x 100 three times a week or substitute 4 x 50 sit ups.
Do you know anything about me? Have you looked at my exercise diary? Profile pictures?
It's no more bragging than people saying they do 300+lb deadlifts or whatever.
Gym ball crunches are much easier than sit ups.
Just because you aren't dedicated to your health please don't accuse other people of being a liar or bragging.

Hahaha goodness... I feel so sorry for people that think doing 100 crunches in a row is a good way to workout.

Also, you're kind of the pot calling the kettle black here because you just told them not to accuse you of being a certain way when you just accused them of not being dedicated to their health. This is just stupid.

I don't think you're a liar, and I hope you're not bragging. I just think you're ignorant. It's ignorant to think you have to do all of that to get a 6 pack or abs or health or whatever other excuses you want to give for doing 400 crunches...

wareagle8706

However, I guess I just assumed (or maybe have been conditioned to think this way), that targeting muscles in a certain area burns more fat in that area (i.e., crunches while burning fat all over, tend to burn more belly fat because of the location of the muscles you are working, etc.).

Could somebody explain this a bit more to me? Feel like I may learn something here today!!! LOL. I really do appreciate your input folks.

Working certain muscles increases the strength or size (depending on how you're working them) of that muscle, but does not burn the fat off of it. The body tends to get rid of fat that is stored above the waist faster due to the type of fat it is ("yellow fat" instead of "brown fat" google it) but that does not mean that targeting working your upper body will make it go away and faster. It just means that your body will burn off fat at it's own pace wherever the fat is less dense typically... If we could spot reduce I'd be a much happier person lol.

Hope this helps.

meerkat70

Your body is one system. One mouth, one stomach, one *kitten*. Obviously it's a bit more complicated than this, buy I find the idea of localised fat burning confusing.

You're going to need to get your bodyfat down low if you want visable abs, through calorie deficit.

There's nothing magical about ab muscles, youre going to have to do several sets of exercises difficult enough that you can only do the normal rep ranges like other body parts, like hanging leg raises or barbell roll outs. These people doing hundreds of reps wouldn't waste their time doing hundreds of other resistance exercises, I'm not sure where the high reps for abs comes from.

I think it's cause it hurts or is at least uncomfortable. Makes people feel virtuous.

quirkytizzy

I've been doing Pilates and the way I had it explained to me is that it doesn't burn fat around the midsection, but is tightening and toning the muscle underneath. When the fat does drop away, I'll have a firmer belly to show thanks to those muscles being worked out.

That sounds like a good explanation, at least. I'm not sure if it perfectly applies to getting a six-pack, though, which probably requires definition toning more than simply tightening.

Ph4lanx

300 twists per day, per side. Help develop the obliques. It will also pull in the skin around the muscle as the fat disappears.

My workout sessions look like this, as an example:

20 mins cardio
150 twists (1 twist is a turn to the left, then to the right)
Lifting session
150 twists
20 mins cardio

Could you explain the mechanics of a 'twist' for me? Is it simply standing with feet shoulder width apart, hands on your head, then turning left and right to stretch the obliques, or am I being a simpleton??? LOL

Nice and easy.

Feet firmly planted about hip/shoulder width apart (whatever's comfortable).
Twist your body from the waist up, to your left as far as it will go without it causing pain.
Twist back to the right again as far as it will go. Congrats! One twist complete!

That's about it. Personally, I raise my arms to shoulder height and place my palms against my chest. It aids in my own balance and allows me to do the twists at a decent pace.

Hirgy03

I've been doing Pilates and the way I had it explained to me is that it doesn't burn fat around the midsection, but is tightening and toning the muscle underneath. When the fat does drop away, I'll have a firmer belly to show thanks to those muscles being worked out.

That sounds like a good explanation, at least. I'm not sure if it perfectly applies to getting a six-pack, though, which probably requires definition toning more than simply tightening.

I like that explanation....it verifies what I was starting to think while reading through the other posts. In essence, the more I work abs, the better those muscles/that area will look when I've finally (through diet and full body workouts), through time cut away alot of the fat I've been "storing" for years! LOL. AND, if I want to show any semblance of a "6-Pack", I'd have to get down to around 10% body fat before they even start to 'show'.

So, I'll just focus on the whole flatter stomach and get rid of the "Dunlop"..... If my fiancee wants me to have a six-pack, she'll have to buy it for me at the liquor store!!!! LOL

Seriously all, thank you so much for the comments and help with this. In just 2 days, my understanding of all of this has increased a LOT.

Hirgy03

300 twists per day, per side. Help develop the obliques. It will also pull in the skin around the muscle as the fat disappears.

My workout sessions look like this, as an example:

20 mins cardio
150 twists (1 twist is a turn to the left, then to the right)
Lifting session
150 twists
20 mins cardio

Could you explain the mechanics of a 'twist' for me? Is it simply standing with feet shoulder width apart, hands on your head, then turning left and right to stretch the obliques, or am I being a simpleton??? LOL

Nice and easy.

Feet firmly planted about hip/shoulder width apart (whatever's comfortable).
Twist your body from the waist up, to your left as far as it will go without it causing pain.
Twist back to the right again as far as it will go. Congrats! One twist complete!

That's about it. Personally, I raise my arms to shoulder height and place my palms against my chest. It aids in my own balance and allows me to do the twists at a decent pace.

thank you man, appreciate it. I thought that was what you were talking about. I always thought that those were just stretches, didn't realize that they helped build muscle.

IronSmasher

300 twists per day, per side. Help develop the obliques. It will also pull in the skin around the muscle as the fat disappears.

My workout sessions look like this, as an example:

20 mins cardio
150 twists (1 twist is a turn to the left, then to the right)
Lifting session
150 twists
20 mins cardio

Could you explain the mechanics of a 'twist' for me? Is it simply standing with feet shoulder width apart, hands on your head, then turning left and right to stretch the obliques, or am I being a simpleton??? LOL

Nice and easy.

Feet firmly planted about hip/shoulder width apart (whatever's comfortable).
Twist your body from the waist up, to your left as far as it will go without it causing pain.
Twist back to the right again as far as it will go. Congrats! One twist complete!

That's about it. Personally, I raise my arms to shoulder height and place my palms against my chest. It aids in my own balance and allows me to do the twists at a decent pace.

thank you man, appreciate it. I thought that was what you were talking about. I always thought that those were just stretches, didn't realize that they helped build muscle.

They don't, that's just a huge waste of time. By all means, 4-6 reps for spinal mobility during your warm up, but suggesting it's an exercise for muscle development is just nonsense.

Capt_Apollo

300 twists per day, per side. Help develop the obliques. It will also pull in the skin around the muscle as the fat disappears.

My workout sessions look like this, as an example:

20 mins cardio
150 twists (1 twist is a turn to the left, then to the right)
Lifting session
150 twists
20 mins cardio

Could you explain the mechanics of a 'twist' for me? Is it simply standing with feet shoulder width apart, hands on your head, then turning left and right to stretch the obliques, or am I being a simpleton??? LOL

Nice and easy.

Feet firmly planted about hip/shoulder width apart (whatever's comfortable).
Twist your body from the waist up, to your left as far as it will go without it causing pain.
Twist back to the right again as far as it will go. Congrats! One twist complete!

That's about it. Personally, I raise my arms to shoulder height and place my palms against my chest. It aids in my own balance and allows me to do the twists at a decent pace.

thank you man, appreciate it. I thought that was what you were talking about. I always thought that those were just stretches, didn't realize that they helped build muscle.

They don't, that's just a huge waste of time. By all means, 4-6 reps for spinal mobility during your warm up, but suggesting it's an exercise for muscle development is just nonsense.