Sit ups and Flat Stomach and Time ?

Zorba

Hi all, i do quiet a bit of cycling but the problem with cycling is it doesn't get rid of my wee bit of a stomach so i've started doing sit ups, can only manage 20 at the mo, what i'm wondering is how many will i need to do and how often to have a reasonably flat stomach and how long will it take to get there bearing in mind i am fairly fit already cos of the cycling !

Thanks in advance

EileenG

Unfortunately, sit-up and cruches and planks etc will give you strong stomach muscles, but won't do much about the fat covering them. They say that eye-popping abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. Diet is what will do most to shift your stomach.

Keep cycling, as that burns lots of calories, and it all comes down to calories in the end. Lift weights as well, they will strengthen your core and burn more cals, and make sure you are getting enough EFA, so take plenty of fish oil.

Zorba

EileenG wrote: »

Unfortunately, sit-up and cruches and planks etc will give you strong stomach muscles, but won't do much about the fat covering them. They say that eye-popping abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. Diet is what will do most to shift your stomach.

Keep cycling, as that burns lots of calories, and it all comes down to calories in the end. Lift weights as well, they will strengthen your core and burn more cals, and make sure you are getting enough EFA, so take plenty of fish oil.

I do weights for upper body and it's working but it's just this little tummy i have that's annoying me, oh and i also take Udo's Oil which has omega 3,6 and 9, thanks for the quick reply !

Nevyn

Yes but when you ahve lost the weight and the muscle is lax is there anything other then the dreaded sit ups that can be done.

EileenG

Gotta do the big lifts. Try squats, deadlifts, lunges, suitcase deadlifts, good mornings, things like that. Just stabilising your body during those exercises will give your stomach a tougher workout than sit-ups.

Oh, have you considered pilates? That will give you about 20 different ways to torture your stomach muscles.

Colm_OReilly

L-sits will help immensely. But like others have said, diet is a major role. Eat more protein, less carbs (particularly starchy/grainy carbs) moderate healthy fats.

amazingemmet

Thaedydal wrote: »

Yes but when you ahve lost the weight and the muscle is lax is there anything other then the dreaded sit ups that can be done.

Vaccuums are great for keeping everything from falling out

Zorba

Thanks for the replies, maybe if i explained myself a bit better it'd help. By cycling i mean i'd do at least 4 hrs a week, some weeks that would be more like 6 or 7 hrs depending on work and weather, for every hr i'm cycling i'm burning off between 600 and 800 calories. My diet is pretty good well so i think lots of veg and not too many fats and i'm also doing weights 2 or 3 times a week but it's just this little belly i can't get rid of so hence the sit ups which i'm assuming will work cos of all the other exercises i do and my diet. So does that help in giving me an idea of roughly when the sit ups will pay off and how many i'd need to be doing ?

Gumbyman

I read somewhere (probably here) that you're better off doing press ups than sit ups. Better for stomach and all round too. Aim for a few sets of 20. I think sit ups are poor for the back. Or is this a myth?

smellslikeshoes

Zorba wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, maybe if i explained myself a bit better it'd help. By cycling i mean i'd do at least 4 hrs a week, some weeks that would be more like 6 or 7 hrs depending on work and weather, for every hr i'm cycling i'm burning off between 600 and 800 calories. My diet is pretty good well so i think lots of veg and not too many fats and i'm also doing weights 2 or 3 times a week but it's just this little belly i can't get rid of so hence the sit ups which i'm assuming will work cos of all the other exercises i do and my diet. So does that help in giving me an idea of roughly when the sit ups will pay off and how many i'd need to be doing ?

Sit ups won't help you loose the belly, they make your ab muscles bigger. If you don't loose the fat on your abs you won't see them. Are you loosing fat with what you are currently doing?

Zorba

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

Sit ups won't help you loose the belly, they make your ab muscles bigger. If you don't loose the fat on your abs you won't see them. Are you loosing fat with what you are currently doing?

I should've said i'm not fat at all well the rest of me isn't, i was always skinny but i've started to put on muscle cos of the weights but i think it's cos i'm eating more and filling out more i've now got this little belly, main reason i wanna get rid of it is cos my pecs would be more noticeable if i didn't have the weee belly, does that make sense ?

smellslikeshoes

Zorba wrote: »

I should've said i'm not fat at all well the rest of me isn't, i was always skinny but i've started to put on muscle cos of the weights but i think it's cos i'm eating more and filling out more i've now got this little belly, main reason i wanna get rid of it is cos my pecs would be more noticeable if i didn't have the weee belly, does that make sense ?

Yes makes complete sense but sit ups won't do much towards loosing your belly.
You can't spot reduce, to loose fat around your belly you have to loose fat on your whole body. Are you loosing fat doing what you are doing now? If so keep doing it, if not you are going to have to take in less calories.

Zorba

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

Yes makes complete sense but sit ups won't do much towards loosing your belly.
You can't spot reduce, to loose fat around your belly you have to loose fat on your whole body. Are you loosing fat doing what you are doing now? If so keep doing it, if not you are going to have to take in less calories.

Ok guess i'll just have to pedal faster and harder, i assume it's worth keeping up with the sit ups though ?

justsomebloke

truthfully you would be best taking up a full body resistance training programme. Also what is your diet actually like as your comment about fats leads me to believe your diet isn't up to what it should be and your diet will pretty much make or brake you reducing your belly size

rubadub

Zorba wrote: »

Ok guess i'll just have to pedal faster and harder, i assume it's worth keeping up with the sit ups though ?

Time is better spent doing other work. Heavy weights as suggested. Heavy squats will do more for your abs than situps, and promote muscle growth in many muscles.

Sit ups won't help you loose the belly, they make your ab muscles bigger.

To grow muscles it is best to train with weights exercises where you can only manage to do 8-12 repetitions of the movement, while maintiaining good control/form. So once you can do 12 situps in a row you would want to be doing weighted ones, like with a plate on your chest- but squating at 8-12 reps will work the abs too. Same with pushups. When I started I could do about 2!, now I can bang out 70 no problem. So I change my pushup position, legs on a stairs and hands at the bottom of the stairs, the incline means you are lifting more of your body weight, so I adjust my incline until I can only do 8-12.

Vegeta

jsb wrote: »

your diet will pretty much make or brake you reducing your belly size

and BINGO was his name-o

WHIP IT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izDf0MCR2DU

I'm not usually one for dishing out advice as I aint qualified to do so - but we get alot of AB-related questions here cos, well, I guess everyone wants that washboard stomach and, as is often mentioned, the stomach is the last place where weight-loss seems to occur...

Anyway, I just thought I'd post the above link - I can't stand sit-ups. They bore me to tears in the extreme, but I find the above 'ab circuit' alot more interesting and would be more inclined to stick with it than the motononous "20 sit-ups.. rest... 20 sit-ups.. rest" kinda thing...

Thought it might interest a few people...