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  • robertmc3000
    robertmc3000 Posts: 9 Member
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    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
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    I would count them! You are using muscles. And good for you for an hour of crunches:smile:
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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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