Crunches count as strength, right?

angiechimpanzee
angiechimpanzee Posts: 536 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Typical floor ab workouts like crunches, oblique crunches, etc, are counted as strength, and you could gain muscle from doing them, right?

Replies

  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    negligible. lucky to get some neuromuscular adaptations. Now stuff like dragon flags, full ab rollouts, l-sits. Those will build a little muscle.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Nope.
  • giggitygoo
    giggitygoo Posts: 1,978 Member
    Those are technically calisthenics. It's unlikely that you will develop much muscle from doing them. Having a strong core is great though!
  • atxdee
    atxdee Posts: 613 Member
    i count it as cardio/strength
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Agree with negligible
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    if you are trying to ask if you are going to see your six pack from weeks and weeks of doing tons of crunches then the answer is no.
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
    Only if you do them with a shake weight.
  • Cyclink
    Cyclink Posts: 517 Member
    Maybe if you held a 50 pound dumbbell while doing them :-) The abdominal muscles are not quite the same as muscle as in your arms and legs, so they will never grow very large.
  • shelmo
    shelmo Posts: 6
    Bodyweight workouts work on all your muscles but aren't big mass builders or big strength increasers as obviously your only using your bodyweight.. they will obivously get easier as you get used to them.

    I do two ab circuits a week.. one is a circuit using just bodyweight.. so yeah like crunches, side oblique raises, leg raises etc..

    Then my other is weighted stuff as this will thicken the muscle aswell increase strength.

    Everything is muscle.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    The general responses on this thread seem to be that crunches etc will strengthen your core, but not build significant muscle. I don't get this - a stronger muscle is usually a bigger muscle so by having a stronger core, surely you are building muscle?

    The only way I can see a muscle getting stronger without growth is that the muscle already had potential for strength increase without getting bigger and you are just setting out on a strength regime. In this case I think you will see a lot of core strength increase (which is good) but no significant muscle growth.

    Is that what we are saying?
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    Even when you see big strong body builders, you see small waists with defined abs. Abs are not a muscle type to bulk like arms/legs/chest, etc. It's just the way they are made. They will gain a little size, but not much in proportion to gains in strength. They are more flat and some are long, but they just will not bulk, they were designed for strength and mobility, not size.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    The general responses on this thread seem to be that crunches etc will strengthen your core, but not build significant muscle. I don't get this - a stronger muscle is usually a bigger muscle so by having a stronger core, surely you are building muscle?

    The only way I can see a muscle getting stronger without growth is that the muscle already had potential for strength increase without getting bigger and you are just setting out on a strength regime. In this case I think you will see a lot of core strength increase (which is good) but no significant muscle growth.

    Is that what we are saying?

    What they are saying is that performing an isolation exercise on a very small muscle is not enough work to be a considered strength training. Yes, some amount of adaptation takes place, but not enough to call is strength training.

    Keep in mind that the underlying purpose for 30% of the questions asked on this site are really about credit. I drank soda, can I get credit for water? I vacuumed, can I get credit for exercise? I did crunches, can I get credit for strength training? The answer is no, no, and no
  • wilmnoca
    wilmnoca Posts: 416 Member
    No. Just no.
  • Wonderob
    Wonderob Posts: 1,372 Member
    Typical floor ab workouts like crunches, oblique crunches, etc, are counted as strength, and you could gain muscle from doing them, right?

    I've heard it said that if you can do more than 20 reps then it shouldn't be considered as strength training (although I accept that there are exceptions). I think it's a pretty good guide - i.e if you can do 30 bench presses in a set then the weight isn't heavy enough to be considered strength training and you're going to get cardio benefits rather than strength improvements

    So I would say that crunches will fall into that category too. Add enough weight to make it impossible to go above 10 reps though and I reckon that's strength training
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    The general responses on this thread seem to be that crunches etc will strengthen your core, but not build significant muscle. I don't get this - a stronger muscle is usually a bigger muscle so by having a stronger core, surely you are building muscle?

    The only way I can see a muscle getting stronger without growth is that the muscle already had potential for strength increase without getting bigger and you are just setting out on a strength regime. In this case I think you will see a lot of core strength increase (which is good) but no significant muscle growth.

    Is that what we are saying?

    What they are saying is that performing an isolation exercise on a very small muscle is not enough work to be a considered strength training. Yes, some amount of adaptation takes place, but not enough to call is strength training.

    Keep in mind that the underlying purpose for 30% of the questions asked on this site are really about credit. I drank soda, can I get credit for water? I vacuumed, can I get credit for exercise? I did crunches, can I get credit for strength training? The answer is no, no, and no

    Ah - now I geddit!
  • Cyclink
    Cyclink Posts: 517 Member
    Keep in mind that the underlying purpose for 30% of the questions asked on this site are really about credit. I drank soda, can I get credit for water? I vacuumed, can I get credit for exercise? I did crunches, can I get credit for strength training? The answer is no, no, and no

    Totally agreed.

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