How many Sit Ups?

[PhilL]

I was down to the beach today, to cool off and to fly my stunt kites. When I first got down to where I wanted to fly I saw this old guy laying on the sand and doing crunches. He wasn’t in shape at all and his form wasn’t very good, but he was doing a lot of them. I went about setting up my kite and started flying. Every once in a while I would glance over and Mr. Crunch was still at it. He never stopped or slowed down, he just kept doing his half-assed crunches. He was at it for at least an hour while I was there. Who knows how long he was doing them. Finally he stops and stands up. He was a dumpy pear-shaped guy 25 to 30 pounds over weight and you couldn’t tell that he had ever done a crunch let alone an hour of them. I was tempted to ask him what he was thinking, but I didn’t. He sure had me wondering.

When I was in high school one of the jocks could do 1000 sit ups without stopping. What a six pack he had. He would bet guys that you couldn’t double him up by punching him in the stomach, a lot of guys tried. One day one of the hitters came up behind him, tapped him on the shoulder and when the jock turned around he got hit cold in the solar plexus. With no chance to get ready he got doubled up, he also got a trip to the hospital. I worked with a guy that swore he did 100 pushups and 100 sit ups every morning, I didn’t believe him. He was 82 and totally FOS.

I’ve been dieting and exercising the last couple of months and I’ve lost about thirty pounds, ( I have another thirty to lose). I don’t know anyone who does sit ups any more, mostly people do crunches. I’ve never done a lot of crunches 20 - 30 is what I do every other day. I will tighten my abs several times a day. I certainly can’t see doing a lot of abdominal work when your abs are covered by a layer of fat.

So, just out of curiosity:
Who does sit ups?
Who does crunches?
How many can you do?
Do you have a six pack, (abs not beer)?
What’s you complete abdominal routine?

 

[lifterg]

Don't do regular sit ups.
Don't do regular crunches.
Do abs with added weight for 6 sets of 10 on days I squat or deadlift (Deads on Monday Squats on Thursday).
Do have a 6 pack when I'm not fat (about 6 months out of the year).
Visible abs have more to do with body fat % than stomach strength.

 

[PhilL]

Do abs with added weight ...
Visible abs have more to do with body fat % than stomach strength.

What do you "do for your abs with added weight"?

I 100% agree, you've got to get the fat off to see the abs.

Seems that you're a Weight Lifter where strengthening your abs would benefit your lifting. I've always been more interested in Body Building rather than strength training. I would never use additional weight for abs. Adding weight builds muscle, bigger muscles give you a ticker waist. Not the goal of Old School Body Builders. I've read that Steve Reeves never did any ab work. He felt that his regular routine gave him all of the ab worked he needed. Admitted he was way before the Ripped look that came after him. Steve Reeves in his prime boasted a 52" chest and a 30" waist. The theory of course was the smaller the waist the more accentuated the V shape (between shoulders and waist).

 

[lifterg]

For abs, there are a couple of weighted things I do
Lie on your back, on the floor with your legs across a bench. Have your training partner hold your ankles (on the bench) down. Then you can add weight by holding a dumbbell on your chest. Keep the dumbbell high (by your neck) and don't let it roll down toward your stomach.
You can also do those 2-part. First do a crunch (until your shoulder blades are off the floor), pause, then sit up, pause, back down to crunch, pause, then flat.

I also like doing leg raises on an incline. When they are too easy you can hold a small dumbbell between your feet.

I used to do ab roller type exercises with a dumbbell resting on my upper back. (Plates work until you get over 45# then they start sliding all over. If the dumbbell rests on your back with the handle running parallel to your spine, the muscles on your back keep it from rolling off) When these got too heavy they beat up my shoulders too much.

Life Fitness/Hammer makes an ab machine that is plate loaded. You can't get enough resistance with plates, but if you use jumpstretch bands on the frame, it loads nice.

I don't necessarily agree about the weight abs making you thicker. And if you lift heavy with your back (squats, deads, bent rows, cleans, etc) you need to make your abs strong enough to balance them out. When I make weight at the lower class I compete in, my waist is under 30". I can still do the sit ups across a bench with a 125# db on my chest at that size. (but I am a scawny little old man)

 

[Ebbtide]

I did 100 and 100.....when I was 17
Can't help ya PhilL, but I applaud your effort

 

[Jared Stenoien]

In weight training last semester we had one of these

and I've done 400 full extension sit ups on it in a competition against my friend, probably could have done a couple more but not much.


Most of the time I did a set of 50 holding a 45# plate over my head.

 

[PhilL]

In weight training last semester we had one of these

I believe that's called a Roman Chair, and I've worked out on those way back when.

 

[OwenM]

I do not do, or recommend, situps.
My ab workout is simple:
Supersetted leg raises, ab roller crunches, and sometimes Roman Chair situps, with or w/o weight. I always include hyperextensions with or w/o weight, though it's not an ab exercise.
I typically do 20 slow reps of each, and continue doing supersets until I can't do them any more. Occasionally, I will do ab supersets between sets of another exercise when working out at home, and not doing a "serious" workout.
I also do a couple prior to squats, since I have a tendency to feel pulled in my lower abdomen sometimes. I don't squat as often as I should, and can't say whether warming up my abs offers any real protection or not, but it puts me at ease mentally, so "it works".

I've done 625 situps without rest. That was probably 20 years ago. No idea how many I can do now.
I do have a six pack. It's presently camouflaged by a layer of stored energy

Good luck with those last 30lbs!

 

[OwenM]

btw, here is the "ab area" of my basement.
I do hanging leg raises at the gym, but at home I use the thingamajig on the left...

 

[65535]

This summer I have started working with a personal trainer at a smallish private location, it's a full body workout, it's definitely gotten me more in shape I have better endurance and I fell better, but I have not really lost to much fat off my body, and have lost no weight, but I also haven't kept 100% to good eating. At 17 though once I force myself to eat lightly and well, the results should come within a decent amount of time.

The place I workout at does crunches and rotational exercises for the core, and branches out into legs, cardio, upper body, and arms. It's a great workout but not one where you lose weight unless you add your own cardio, but I am not ready for that personally. I think to lose weight you want to lower your calories and focus on cardio.

 

[James Way]

Don't do sit ups except when I have to. I can do about 60. They're not that great for ab work- lot of effort goes into moving hip-flexors. With bad technique abs get no work at all. Additionally sit ups carry back risk.

Crunches are awesome. Currently do 2 sets of 15 weighted crunches (20kg), then one to failure- should add more variety e.g. oblique crunches etc. but results are pretty good atm.
No six-pack...yet. Need to lose more fat.

 

[PhilL]

I should make myself clear, I don't think that doing any form of ab work is going to help anyone burn a significant amount of calories, that would lead to weight loss. That's why I was so fascinated by the guy at the beach. He would have been much better burning off the fat by running or swimming.

I think having a six pack is a sign of fitness, something worth working towards. But, I think a lot of people spend a lot of time working (or over-working) their abs. The abdominals are a muscle that can be strengthened by contractions. I'm not sure what the optimum number of contractions is, I would guess somewhere between 50 and one hundred. I can't see working abs every day, you rest other muscles you work, why would abs be any different? My wife does Pilates which focuses a lot on Core training,with several different exercises. I may give that a try soon.

Owen, it looks like you're not kidding around with your Ab Area

 

[RenegadeRows]

I've been a bodybuilder for a few years. I'll tell you two things that determines your abdominal status:

cardio
diet


You can do all the situps in the world, but if you dont have good cardio and diet, youll have a beer belly just like everyone else. Only yours will be rock solid (lol)

Also, I work my abs like any other bodypart. 1-2 times per week, hit with 5 sets of situps to failure (as many as you can)

RR

 

[PhilL]

Also, I work my abs like any other bodypart. 1-2 times per week, hit with 5 sets of situps to failure (as many as you can)

RR

RR, weighted or not? Can doing weighted ab work increase the muscle size of the abs and make them thicker?

Do you have a Six Pack, and is it visible?

 

[RenegadeRows]

RR, weighted or not? Can doing weighted ab work increase the muscle size of the abs and make them thicker?

Do you have a Six Pack, and is it visible?

I do them not weighted, just bodyweight. I also do leg raises.
If you do weighted ab work, you do see faster results, and bigger ab muscles, yes.

My six pack is not very visible right now as I am in my bulking phase. Plus, I focus more on shoulder/arm/chest/back size and definition. I find ab work tedious and painful

Might I add, alot of the exercises I do work the ab muscles indirectly. Chinups, deadlifts, squats, dips.

 

[susie]

You don't need to do situps you are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay sexy as you are

 

[Cougar Allen]

 

[Gollnick]

Situps and crunches are actually difficult to do right. Most people do them very ineffectively. They cheat -- not on purpose or even knowingly.

 

[0234042]

Everybody who's replied so far is right. But not everybody is right for you or the goals you have. Consider:
The abs are a muscle, and muscle needs resistance to overcompensate from the work you make it do, i.e., grow.

You are an individual, just as God intended you to be. You may or may not get the same ab development Steve Reeves got if you do the same routines, i.e., no direct ab work.

Fat loss without cardio or exercise of any kind can only come from a caloric deficit, meaning using / burning more calories than you take in. A calorie is simply a unit of energy. Learn to monitor, even loosely, what kind of calories you're taking in and adjust either your energy output or your calorie intake accordingly. If you've maintained your current body fat level / weight for a while and don't intend on making any drastic changes to your exercise routine, then reduce your daily calorie intake by about 500. You'll find that 500 calories is not that much consideriing the average diet. It's easy to have you're calorie count creep up over time an not notice 'til it's evident in the mirror. If you're unwilling to reduce your daily calories, then spread the current calorie load over more small feedings throughout the day and drink as much water as you can. This should send your body the message that it has to more quickly use what you're giving it. And by use, I mean burn as energy. The reason Reeves abs looked so great without direct work (in my opinion) is because he was right - his regular workouts, which were renowned for being very, very tough by the way, provided a lot of stimulus for his abs to "work" as stabilizers for his heavy deadlifts, squats, standing overhead presses and the like. I've seen pics of him doing ab work, but I don't know if that was just for photos. I've seen other pros who've said they do no ab work. I am not a pro, but I workout pretty heavy and am unable to get my abs to show without direct work for them. They get pretty strong just by doing my heavy work, but don't stand out like I'd like.
As for how many crunches / situps, that's irrelevant. As you pointed out, even people who look fat often have a great propensity for endurance work. But that won't get you a six pack.
Try this if you have access to a Nautilus ab machine and a slant or incline board -
start with the incline board. Lie on the board and grab either a handle behind your head or the sides of the board. Bring your legs up to 90 degrees from your waist and keep your knees bent. With only your abs (don't swing your legs) curl your trunk up until your knees reach your chest. Hold the contracted position for 1 second and return the the starting position. Do as many reps as you can, keeping your rep speed at 2 seconds up and two seconds down. As you tire, loosen your form slightly and swing your legs just enough to get you started. Also, try to increase your rep speed. You may not be able to because you'll be fatigued, but trying to go faster gives you a mental edge.

After one set of as many incline reverse crunches as you can do, move to the nautilus machine. Set the weight for a rep goal of 10-15. Again, keep your rep speed relatively slow. The idea is to make the muscle work without the aid of momentum. Use momentum only as you tire. Also, hold the contracted position briefly, about one second.

If you're love handle muscles (the obliques) could use more tightening and the previous two exercises aren't doing the trick, try plain old twisting crunches lying flat on the floor.
Crunch up and twist to one side for a set # and then the other side. Reach out with one hand if it helps to gain leverage until you get strong enough to do them with hands on chest or behind your head.

These things work. Start now and look for your six pack before Christmas.

 

[PhilL]

Susie Q, right back at ya Babe!

0234042, some really good advice in your post, thanks.

I'm not sure that a Six Pack is in my future, certainly not by Christmas. I've got far too much fat to lose. I do want to reach (and maintain) a level of fitness where I feel good, but a six pack doesn't have to be a part of the mix. Maintaining a six pack year round would be very difficult. I was just curious with this thread to find out what folks were thinking and doing.

As a kid Steve Reeves was God when it came to Bodybuilding, but I don't remember seeing a photo where he showed a chiseled six pack. Most guys weren't ripped, maybe a Vince Gironda and a few others showed the cubes, but most didn't. When Clarence Bass showed what Ripped looked like he blew a lot of minds.

This is not my goal.

I do think that a strong core with tight abs is something to shoot for and can be obtained. I'll continue doing my crunches and probably give Pilates a go. Weight loss and improving my running times are my main focus. Maybe by next June I'll be looking for my six pack.