Crunches; do they work?

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Mir1999
Mir1999 Posts: 14
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been getting a lot of mixed reviews when it comes to these guys. Do crunches work well for any of you? My aunt told me that crunches do nothing but I'm not so sure. Would doing 100-150 a day show any results? Obviously it would not be the only exercise I do, it would be paired with running in place for 15 mins x3 times a week (Cant actually run as of right now due to the snow everywhere :tongue: )

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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,402 MFP Moderator
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    Well you can't spot reduce. The only thing they do is strengthen your muscles. But realistically you would want to work all parts of your core (to include back muscles) for overall core strength.
  • holly55555
    holly55555 Posts: 306 Member
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    Yes, but you have to do more than crunches to get abs. They only work for one part of your abs.

    Also, just as a side note, running in place for 15 minutes 3x a week is not enough cardio. If that is all you're going to do, you won't see any results. If there is snow, go find a treadmill. There are plenty of affordable gyms and even free community centers that have exercise equipment.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    100 to 150 a day? that is over kill …

    I would say focus on losing body fat first….

    way too many times i see obese people in the gym spending like 20-30 minutes a session on abs when they would be better suited spending that time on cardio and/or strength training..

    I would say lift heavy, eat in deficit, hit your macros, work abs like one to two times a week, and throw in some cardio to help get your burns up...
  • bajoyba
    bajoyba Posts: 1,153 Member
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    Crunches are fine - they will help to increase the strength and endurance of those muscles - but as mentioned above, you can't spot reduce. If your goal is to lose fat, you need to eat at a calorie deficit. There are also much more effective ways to increase the strength of your core.
  • phantomjam
    phantomjam Posts: 46 Member
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    They do nothing for your abs and are a great way to ruin your back. Lose fat through diet instead and regain your time for something worthwhile.
  • Mr_Starr
    Mr_Starr Posts: 139 Member
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    I got a followup question. There were a few days we had some snow in my town (over a lovely white winter long weekend!).

    So I was wondering can you count shoveling snow for cardio?

    I think i heard that 45 minutes of shoveling snow burns about 300 calories.
  • jennholi
    jennholi Posts: 2
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    You need more of a workout than that! I am doing P90X and have had great success. The new one that came out is only 30 minutes a day but still a good workout and then I also run about 3 miles a day which takes about 30 minutes! Hope this helps! ;)
  • Showcase_Brodown
    Showcase_Brodown Posts: 919 Member
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    I would consider crunches and most other ab exercises largely a waste of your time.

    If you are trying to slim down, diet is key. Cardio can help, but that feels like a waste of time too if the only purpose is to burn calories. Nail it with your diet and it will make everything else easier. Remember that abs are made in the kitchen.

    If you are aiming to get strong, doing abs is only one very small part of the puzzle. You need to strengthen everything else as well so as to not be imbalanced. For this, it's best to spend your time doing compound movements with barbells (yes, they'll get your abs too!).
  • steve0820
    steve0820 Posts: 510 Member
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    It can strengthen your core, but its a weak exercise for it. Compound lifts, planks, l-sits, vholds are much better exercises for core strength. If you just want aesthetics (6 pack) , your nutrition is what will achieve that.

    I was one of those guys who would do anymore from 500-1000 crunches/situps variations a day (mostly due to Martial arts). at the time, I probably eat at a deficit, and still didn't really have a 6 pack. Fast forward today, I do zero crunches, lift heavy, eat at a small surplus, and I have a stronger core, and a 6 pack.

    I can't remember the study or the article, so a little broscience here, that it take about 250 000 crunches to burn 1lbs of fat!
  • pavrg
    pavrg Posts: 277 Member
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    Since OP didn't specify: They are effective at strengthening your abdominal muscles as part of a comprehensive exercise routine. They are not effective at spot reducing fat in the mid-section.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Like everyone else said, they are a basic exercise for strengthening your abs, they will not help lose tummy fat, if this is what you are looking for.
  • jzou91
    jzou91 Posts: 27 Member
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    I'm going to put this to rest right now.


    Crunches are a complete waste of time. Why would you train your abs differently from any other body part?

    I was at a NASM workshop a few months ago and we were talking about how most people commonly train abs and crunches came up. Firstly, 95% of people are doing crunches incorrectly. Secondly, as Personal Trainers we only involve crunches for clients to "feel the burn" as many clients need some sort of sensation to realize they're working out (ie: muscle soreness/etc).

    Once you're breaking the 12-15 rep barrier you begin to cross into the zone of "muscular endurance" instead of hypertrophy (muscle cell growth). If you want abs that "pop" out (definition) you firstly have to have low enough body fat. Larger muscles will "pop" with higher bodyfat but this is only increased via muscular hypertrophy (as you would train every other body part).

    10-12 reps, exactly the same as you would train anything else for hypertrophy. USE SOME WEIGHT.

    My favorites:

    Cable Crunches
    Weighted hanging knee raises
    Weighted leg lifts (can be tricky to hold the weight but once you master it...)
    Weighted plank (short holds with higher weights... or change it up and do 1arm/1leg out etc)
    Do some sort of "twist" motion for obliques etc... so many variations and all work about the same

    Squats / Deadlifts are a given.

    IF you are going to do crunches... at least add some weight by holding a dumbbell and do them correctly!

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