should I be doing anything else?

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canadagirl79
canadagirl79 Posts: 154
in Fitness and Exercise
I walk everyday for 35 mins but I'm wondering if I need to do anything other than "just" walking to get rid of my belly....and my little muffin top (which by the way, has decreased A LOT lol).......i don't know if i should be doing crunches or something like that....i have one of those little exercise things for doing crunches..is walking enough everyday or should I do crunches too?

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  • rkascak
    rkascak Posts: 224 Member
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    I would do crunches. On exercisetv.tv they have great ab workout videos that I find to really work my whole abdominal section. Doing some ab workouts couldnt hurt.
  • luv2run4fun
    luv2run4fun Posts: 92
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    I read ALOT. I get subscriptions to Fitness Magazine, Health, and daily e-mails from Women's Health. All that being said, from everything I've read and my own personal experience, I believe that cardio exercise is probably one of the best exercises to rid yourself of any belly fat. Also, I personally LOVE planks. That is the only toning exercise I do for my abs and they work great!!!
  • canadagirl79
    canadagirl79 Posts: 154
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    so is it best to do the crunches before or after I eat....normally, i go for my walk when i get home from work..i will usually grab some peanuts to eat first to tie me over, or an apple before i go.....should i do the crunches as soon as i get home after my walk, or wait till later?

    this week and next i'm on vacation so I will probably be eating first, then going for a walk...
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    crunches will not make you loose any fat, it will just tighten/strengthen the muscles under the fat. You need to up your cardio by making it more intense. Try either jogging, or biking or do your walks up hill. Your body gets used to doing the same thing over and over and will burn less calories, for the same exercise, over time.
  • abbie38
    abbie38 Posts: 128
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    How many planks do you do? How long do you hold for? Ugh. I'm sooooo bad at planks :P
  • lisa811
    lisa811 Posts: 363
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    I HIGHLY recommend Jillian Michaels' 30-day shred. $9 at Walmart and Amazon.com and only 20-min workouts. Very INTENSE workouts that get results! Check out some of the 30-day shred topics here and you'll see the success people are having. It's tough at first, but you'll be amazed how much you improve with each workout.
  • junipuni
    junipuni Posts: 264 Member
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    crunches will not make you lose any fat, it will just tighten/strengthen the muscles under the fat. You need to up your cardio by making it more intense. Try either jogging, or biking or do your walks up hill. Your body gets used to doing the same thing over and over and will burn less calories, for the same exercise, over time.
    Ditto this - if you're wanting to lose the fat, crunches is not the way to go.
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
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    you have to continually change your routine to keep your body guessing. we are master adapters and while walking was what you needed to start losing weight and its great to keep you healthy, you'll need to kick it up a bit. Have you heard of couch to 5k? its a program that slowly works you up to being able to jog/run a 5k starting you off with small intervals: walk 90 seconds, run 45 seconds. each week you run more of the time. I'm going to restart that as soon as the snow melts! you can download free versions of it for your mp3 player (just google couch 2 5k podcasts) and it'll tell you when to start & stop running.

    Also I dont entirely agree about the crunches not making you lose fat. Doing crunches (or any muscle toning workout) will add lean muscle which increases your metabolism. Its not going to specifically get rid of fat around your midsection but it will incease your body's overall abilitity to burn fat everywhere. I would say try to find a workout dvd that you like (I have Netflix and have been renting different ones on their to see what I like before buying one) check out ebay or amazon for used copies or rent them from your library so you can get a few different things. Pilates is GREAT for core strengthening, I would suggest starting with that :)

    ok last edit! also wanted to say dont do crunches right after eating, your tummy will not thank you!!!! I once went to an hour long Pilates class right after eating lunch and thought I was going to throw up by the end of it. Give yourself at least an hour after eating anything substantial, but a handful of peanuts shouldnt hurt. Basically if you feel even remotely full before starting the ab workout you'll be sorry 5 minutes into it!
  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
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    Doing massive crunches will add 6 ounces of lean muscle mass, which will increase your BMR by 0.01%... Sorry. The crunches are a great idea, and if you do them faithfully you will have strong, firm toned abs - buried under a blanket of bodyfat.

    "Spot reduction" is a myth,,, as you lose fat your body will remove it from where you are genetically predisposed to lose it. There's nothing you can really do to target one particular spot to remove fat from. Old MFP'ers are sick of reading this, but I'll type it again. "I've lost 63 pounds, and I still have my $%& double chin!".

    The muffin top is simple bodyfat. To make it go away, lose bodyfat. To lose bodyfat, eat less/move more. It's just that simple.

    The folks on TV selling the "ab-destroyer", or "Ab/rocket", of "Abdomenal-molester" or whatever gimmick they're selling, they have great abs, that's true. But look at them,,, they have great everything! They have hard, firm, exposed abs - and biceps and triceps and ,,, Everybody has great abs at 9% bodyfat!

    Calorie control + Cardio cardio cardio,,, that's all. You can do it, :smile:
  • ractayjon
    ractayjon Posts: 365
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    Cardo removes fat. Lifting weights builds muscle. Ab exercises are like lifting weights in the abdomen area so doing ab crunches or whatever will build muscle...but it wont get rid of fat....so you need to do both if you only do caardio you are getting rid of fat but not doing anything for your muscles underneath and if you only do crunches you will have super strong tight ab muscles under the fat - so do both. :-)
  • canadagirl79
    canadagirl79 Posts: 154
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    Cardo removes fat. Lifting weights builds muscle. Ab exercises are like lifting weights in the abdomen area so doing ab crunches or whatever will build muscle...but it wont get rid of fat....so you need to do both if you only do caardio you are getting rid of fat but not doing anything for your muscles underneath and if you only do crunches you will have super strong tight ab muscles under the fat - so do both. :-)

    thanks, i will...i think i'll do the same as someone else mentioned to me before..doing the shred in the morning and then walking at night...or maybe i'll do the walk first and then the shred at night
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
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    Crunches won't help with fat loss- they tone up the mucles underneath which won't be visible until the fat layer is gone.
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
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    Doing massive crunches will add 6 ounces of lean muscle mass, which will increase your BMR by 0.01%... Sorry. The crunches are a great idea, and if you do them faithfully you will have strong, firm toned abs - buried under a blanket of bodyfat.

    dont you get all math-ish on me Casper! :laugh: I just meant toning is helpful too, and adding that to a cardio program will get better, faster results. She's already doing cardio, her question as should she be doing more, my answer: yes! :happy:

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