situps and belly fat?

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Todd
Todd Posts: 22
in Fitness and Exercise
Need to lose the love handles and the fat on my abdomen. I want to start doing sit ups, something I can do at home. I read that they can be bad for you, hurt your neck and back.
Is there a correct way to them?
Will cardio, like jogging help you lose belly fat.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Replies

  • Todd
    Todd Posts: 22
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    Need to lose the love handles and the fat on my abdomen. I want to start doing sit ups, something I can do at home. I read that they can be bad for you, hurt your neck and back.
    Is there a correct way to them?
    Will cardio, like jogging help you lose belly fat.
    Any suggestions would be appreciated!
  • Michelrs
    Michelrs Posts: 21 Member
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    One thing you want to look out for: hands behind the head. A lot of people do that. If you do so, you tend to "push" your head forward, putting too much strain on your neck. The way I was told to do it (and this was a while ago, so the reasoning may be changed), is to keep your hands losely behind the ears, cupping them so to say. Another way is to stretch your arms forward. So all your effort in trying to sit up will come from your stomach, and not by pushing your head forward.
    HTH
  • chrispchef1
    chrispchef1 Posts: 67
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    that's a good suggestion. i have neck problems so i use a large ball and it really helps with support.

    i was told by a personal trainer that the combination of cardio and strength training (including situps) works the best for blasting fat. the energy required to repair/build muscle tissue continues to burn calories even after you've worked out.

    c
  • teetsel4
    teetsel4 Posts: 288 Member
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    When I first started to do sit ups it really hurt my neck and shoulders. In fact, I felt as though my stomach muscles could do more sit ups, but I had to stop because of my neck and shoulders. I talked to a personal trainer, and he looked at how I was doing them. He said it was all ok, but you just have to power through those pains and they will go away, because you have built up the muscles in your neck.

    By the way, reading your post, is a reminder to get me back on track! Thanks!
  • jacs214
    jacs214 Posts: 2
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    my trainer told me its got to be cardio and watch your carb intake. yoga and core strenghthing with the stability ball will help tremedously
  • prettyinpink
    prettyinpink Posts: 94 Member
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    One suggestion I have, and this is what I do and it works, is go to Wal-Mart (everyone has one around) and buy a "kick ball"... it is about $3.00. You can do so much with it.

    Sit on the floor, put the ball just behind your back and lean back and then come back up. Feel the burn! :o)

    Sitting on the floor, start to lay back on the ball with it up near your shoulder blades, lay completely back on the ball and then get your balance with your feet planted on the floor and lift and do pelvic thrusts. That works well too!

    There are some others but I would need my ball to remember them.

    Good luck!
  • prettyinpink
    prettyinpink Posts: 94 Member
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    One suggestion I have, and this is what I do and it works, is go to Wal-Mart (everyone has one around) and buy a "kick ball"... it is about $3.00. You can do so much with it.

    Sit on the floor, put the ball just behind your back and lean back and then come back up. Feel the burn! :o)

    Sitting on the floor, start to lay back on the ball with it up near your shoulder blades, lay completely back on the ball and then get your balance with your feet planted on the floor and lift and do pelvic thrusts. That works well too!

    There are some others but I would need my ball to remember them.

    Good luck!
  • eeekmom
    eeekmom Posts: 23
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    i had some love handls after my second child and i did tae-bo amped for a month and they were almost completely gone. the cardio combined with the intense core moves really helps burn the fat. i also just read an article that if you do crunches with belly fat already exisiting you can get what is called, muscle fat and will make your abs look bigger. i did not do any crunches or sit ups at all and still do not. once i have all the fat from my belly gone i will train them with ab workouts but to get rid of the fat try tae bo
  • eeekmom
    eeekmom Posts: 23
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    i had some love handls after my second child and i did tae-bo amped for a month and they were almost completely gone. the cardio combined with the intense core moves really helps burn the fat. i also just read an article that if you do crunches with belly fat already exisiting you can get what is called, muscle fat and will make your abs look bigger. i did not do any crunches or sit ups at all and still do not. once i have all the fat from my belly gone i will train them with ab workouts but to get rid of the fat try tae bo
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    One thing you should know off the bat, there is no way to target fat loss. I'll repeat it so we all get it, there is NO way to target weight loss.
    I have done extensive research into this, I can go dig up all the facts if you really want them, but, trust me, I am good at doing research for health care. If you really need em, ask, I'll go find my research again (it may take a bit to find them though).

    The human body burns fat FIFO (FIFO means First In First Out).
    What this means is, generally, the order in which you put on fat, is the order you loose it.
    Why? because as fat ages, it moves further and further away from the blood vessels that pull the energy from them. The body will always look for the most convienent way to access energy, if that is the food in your stomach (which it always is unfortunately), then it takes that, when it runs out of food energy, it grabs the first available source, which is new fat. In some cases it will even grab lean tissue and muscle before it reaches for older fat (this is pretty rare, and usually doesn't happen until most of the accessable fat is used up, but it is most common when your body is in starvation mode and trying to conserve energy and decrease your metabolism)

    So, that being all said, you burn fat in ages, not in areas.

    Now, that doesn't mean don't do your crunches and planks, and hanging knee bends, because once the fat does come off, your stomach will look ripped!

    I hope this helps.
  • SoupNazi
    SoupNazi Posts: 4,229 Member
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    One thing you should know off the bat, there is no way to target fat loss. I'll repeat it so we all get it, there is NO way to target weight loss.
    I have done extensive research into this, I can go dig up all the facts if you really want them, but, trust me, I am good at doing research for health care. If you really need em, ask, I'll go find my research again (it may take a bit to find them though).

    The human body burns fat FIFO (FIFO means First In First Out).
    What this means is, generally, the order in which you put on fat, is the order you loose it.
    Why? because as fat ages, it moves further and further away from the blood vessels that pull the energy from them. The body will always look for the most convienent way to access energy, if that is the food in your stomach (which it always is unfortunately), then it takes that, when it runs out of food energy, it grabs the first available source, which is new fat. In some cases it will even grab lean tissue and muscle before it reaches for older fat (this is pretty rare, and usually doesn't happen until most of the accessable fat is used up, but it is most common when your body is in starvation mode and trying to conserve energy and decrease your metabolism)

    So, that being all said, you burn fat in ages, not in areas.

    Now, that doesn't mean don't do your crunches and planks, and hanging knee bends, because once the fat does come off, your stomach will look ripped!

    I hope this helps.


    That is too cool, banks. I had never even thought about that. Seems completely logical to me. Thanks for the insight.
  • chrispchef1
    chrispchef1 Posts: 67
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    The human body burns fat FIFO (FIFO means First In First Out).....
    So, that being all said, you burn fat in ages, not in areas.

    :laugh: there's that 'age' thing again coming back to get me! now that explains it.

    actually... i do wonder about 'belly fat' being different somehow? since the rest of my weight has come off in FiFO mode, except for my belly which was last to arrive and doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry to leave. i was chalking it up to age (seriously) but i just wonder....??
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    maybe it's not fat. Maybe the government drugged you and put some weird alien jello in your stomach while you were sleeping, so that you would stay discouraged, your their test subject for some new mind control by depression technique.:wink:

    But really, for some, some areas are just more difficult then others. It's all body chemistry. Every body is different, maybe you have less blood vessels around your stomach then normal. Dunno. Could be a lot of things. Are you under a lot of stress? I have heard *****unconfirmed rumor alert!!!***** that stress releases hormones that trigger fat retention in certain area's, including the stomach. I haven't looked that one up yet. But if anyone else has, please confirm or deny. It would explain a lot if it was true (I'm skeptical though).
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    well would you look at that, check these out.

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20070702/stress-unlocks-fat-cells-ups-obesity

    http://men.webmd.com/features/ask-dr-oz-why-fatter-when-stressed
  • madiposa
    madiposa Posts: 36
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    :tongue: Wow that was good info!!!:flowerforyou: THanks
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    :tongue: Wow that was good info!!!:flowerforyou: THanks

    welcome!:bigsmile:
  • chrispchef1
    chrispchef1 Posts: 67
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    No stress here, must be the alien jello!:laugh:
  • Todd
    Todd Posts: 22
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    Thanks everybody for your guidance!

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