Sit ups or not sit ups... yet..

surfsup said:

I have been wondering about the following for some time.

[...]

Your questions is answered in a most authoritative way in "The Abdominal
Training FAQ":

http://www.timbomb.net/ab

best regards Peter

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 14:27:08 GMT, "surfsup" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

My question is about my stomach. I have my podge at the moment and have
heard that no amount of sit ups will remove this. Fine no problem. Is this
correct as I understand it ? I am on my diet to reduce my weight and body

Correct. The saying goes, 'abs are made in the kitchen'.

Quoted message said:

fat hopefully reducing the size of my stomach. While I am doing this is it
still worth me doing sit ups so that when my excess body fat is gone, I will
be already reasonably toned underneath or is there no point to sit ups
whatsoever until the excess fat is gone ?

Do them for what they're worth. A core strengthening exercise.

Quoted message said:

Like I say I have already been doing sit ups for some time and when I tense
my stomach muscles I can feel a reasonably hard part under my layer of fat
( I would say about an inch worth ). Does that mean they are working in the
background and once the fat is gone I will see my results ?

Yes, that's right they're always there, doing their job. You'll start
to see them as you continue to lose bodyfat. But don't be surprised if
they don't look the magazine cover models.

Quoted message said:

Also how many would be recommended in a day to do ? Ie 100 all at once ? 50
3 times a day ? 50 10 times a day ?

Treat them as you would any other body part. Exercise them once or
twice a week, a few sets of 6-10 reps with weight or without.
Doing them multiple times a day is pointless. Same with doing 100's of
them. You wouldn't think of doing 50 or 100 bench presses 3 times a
day would you? Do them right and you shouldn't be able to do that
many. You only want to contract the ab muscle through it's full range
of motion (which is actually rather short). Not bounce up & down till
you're silly.

Peter Unold <[email hidden]> wrote in news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

surfsup said:

I have been wondering about the following for some time.

[...]

Your questions is answered in a most authoritative way in "The Abdominal
Training FAQ":

http://www.timbomb.net/ab

best regards Peter

Hmmmm. In not so sure its autoratative. Just 'safe' ?
Lordy

From the faq...

Q3: How do I reduce the fat covering my middle?

The answer comes in two parts: diet and aerobic exercise.

DIET

This is controversial, but most people agree that eating very little fat
and lots of complex carbs (like rice, pasta and potatoes) helps ensure that
you don't add additional fat. Then you have to work at using the fat you
already have stored which involves...

EXERCISE

Again a bit controversial, but it's widely agreed that regular, moderate,
aerobic exercise 3-4 times per week works best to burn fat that's already
stored.

"Moderate" because intense exercise burns glycogen not fat, so keep the
intensity at about the level where you are beginning to puff a little.

--
Lordy

surfsup said:

My question is about my stomach. I have my podge at the moment and have
heard that no amount of sit ups will remove this. Fine no problem. Is this
correct as I understand it ? I am on my diet to reduce my weight and body
fat hopefully reducing the size of my stomach. While I am doing this is it
still worth me doing sit ups so that when my excess body fat is gone, I will
be already reasonably toned underneath or is there no point to sit ups
whatsoever until the excess fat is gone ?

It depends. If all you are interested in is appearance, building up
your ab muscles will make them look better when you get to lower bodyfat
percentages. However it won't make them more "visible;" as you suggest,
that's more a matter of fat loss.

Quoted message said:

Also how many would be recommended in a day to do ? Ie 100 all at once ? 50
3 times a day ? 50 10 times a day ?

Abs are really no different than any other muscle group, and shouldn't
be trained any differently in terms of intensity &/or volume.

-Adam

One should always work their Abs. The benefit is not just appearances but
also stability of your lower back. I think you should vary your workout by
doing exercises other then sit-ups ie. leg raises
"surfsup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have been wondering about the following for some time.

Currently on a diet and have lost 3 stones in weight over a period of
time.
Am now 5ft 8 and 11st 4 pounds and according to my little meter thing am
27%
body fat.

It seems most of my remaining fat is on my tummy as my legs, arms etc are
pretty lean if not skinny ( trying to build these up with weights to a
degree )

My question is about my stomach. I have my podge at the moment and have
heard that no amount of sit ups will remove this. Fine no problem. Is this
correct as I understand it ? I am on my diet to reduce my weight and body
fat hopefully reducing the size of my stomach. While I am doing this is it
still worth me doing sit ups so that when my excess body fat is gone, I
will
be already reasonably toned underneath or is there no point to sit ups
whatsoever until the excess fat is gone ?

Like I say I have already been doing sit ups for some time and when I
tense
my stomach muscles I can feel a reasonably hard part under my layer of fat
( I would say about an inch worth ). Does that mean they are working in
the
background and once the fat is gone I will see my results ?

Also how many would be recommended in a day to do ? Ie 100 all at once ?
50
3 times a day ? 50 10 times a day ?

Many thanks.

"surfsup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have been wondering about the following for some time.

Currently on a diet and have lost 3 stones in weight over a period of
time.
Am now 5ft 8 and 11st 4 pounds and according to my little meter thing
am 27%
body fat.

Congratulations on your weight loss. 11st 4 isn't terribly heavy for
5'8" in height and 27% bodyfat - I'm also 5'8", weigh just a little
under 11 st, but I'm 10-15% bodyfat. You don't mention your exercise
program, but it sounds like you would benefit from lifting weights in
some form, and it would make your dieting easier as well in that you'd
be burning more calories every day.

Keep up the good work.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Quoted message said:

It seems most of my remaining fat is on my tummy as my legs, arms etc
are
pretty lean if not skinny ( trying to build these up with weights to a
degree )

My question is about my stomach. I have my podge at the moment and
have
heard that no amount of sit ups will remove this. Fine no problem. Is
this
correct as I understand it ? I am on my diet to reduce my weight and
body
fat hopefully reducing the size of my stomach. While I am doing this
is it
still worth me doing sit ups so that when my excess body fat is gone,
I will
be already reasonably toned underneath or is there no point to sit ups
whatsoever until the excess fat is gone ?

Like I say I have already been doing sit ups for some time and when I
tense
my stomach muscles I can feel a reasonably hard part under my layer of
fat
( I would say about an inch worth ). Does that mean they are working
in the
background and once the fat is gone I will see my results ?

Also how many would be recommended in a day to do ? Ie 100 all at once
? 50
3 times a day ? 50 10 times a day ?

Many thanks.

As regards to training I have been completely inactive for the past 12 days
due to a dislocated knee-cap but my program prior to this injury was as
follows.

Two 1 1/2 hour Karate sessions per week.
Every other day consisted of working on heavy bag, some minimal weights on
arms as well as squats with weights plus 50 sit ups.

I am currently following the weight watchers plan in addition to the above
and hope to get back to some training this coming week.

Thanks for all the advice btw.

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"surfsup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have been wondering about the following for some time.

Currently on a diet and have lost 3 stones in weight over a period of
time.
Am now 5ft 8 and 11st 4 pounds and according to my little meter thing
am 27%
body fat.

Congratulations on your weight loss. 11st 4 isn't terribly heavy for
5'8" in height and 27% bodyfat - I'm also 5'8", weigh just a little
under 11 st, but I'm 10-15% bodyfat. You don't mention your exercise
program, but it sounds like you would benefit from lifting weights in
some form, and it would make your dieting easier as well in that you'd
be burning more calories every day.

Keep up the good work.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Quoted message said:

It seems most of my remaining fat is on my tummy as my legs, arms etc
are
pretty lean if not skinny ( trying to build these up with weights to a
degree )

My question is about my stomach. I have my podge at the moment and
have
heard that no amount of sit ups will remove this. Fine no problem. Is
this
correct as I understand it ? I am on my diet to reduce my weight and
body
fat hopefully reducing the size of my stomach. While I am doing this
is it
still worth me doing sit ups so that when my excess body fat is gone,
I will
be already reasonably toned underneath or is there no point to sit ups
whatsoever until the excess fat is gone ?

Like I say I have already been doing sit ups for some time and when I
tense
my stomach muscles I can feel a reasonably hard part under my layer of
fat
( I would say about an inch worth ). Does that mean they are working
in the
background and once the fat is gone I will see my results ?

Also how many would be recommended in a day to do ? Ie 100 all at once
? 50
3 times a day ? 50 10 times a day ?

Many thanks.

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 14:51:59 GMT, Justin Case <[email hidden]>
wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Same with doing 100's of
them. You wouldn't think of doing 50 or 100 bench presses 3 times a
day would you?

If your goal is abdominal endurance then doing 100's a day would be
the ticket. If your goal is strength then doing high resistance, low
reps is the way to go.

The OP's concern, seems to me, is how to get visible abs.

To be honest im not looking to play a tune on them. Just to lose the fat and
definately have a tone there even if only a dull one ;o)

"Justin Case" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 14:51:59 GMT, Justin Case <[email hidden]>
wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Same with doing 100's of
them. You wouldn't think of doing 50 or 100 bench presses 3 times a
day would you?

If your goal is abdominal endurance then doing 100's a day would be
the ticket. If your goal is strength then doing high resistance, low
reps is the way to go.

The OP's concern, seems to me, is how to get visible abs.

"surfsup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

As regards to training I have been completely inactive for the past 12
days
due to a dislocated knee-cap but my program prior to this injury was
as
follows.

Two 1 1/2 hour Karate sessions per week.
Every other day consisted of working on heavy bag, some minimal
weights on
arms as well as squats with weights plus 50 sit ups.

What sort of weight are you using on your squats, and what sort of
set/rep/rest scheme? And what "minimal" kind of arm work are you doing,
and again what weights/sets/reps/rest scheme? By changing some of this,
you may help your cause. Your martial arts study is probably giving you
all the conditioning work you need, and you might consider replacing
some of the heavy bag work with more weight training unless martials
arts performance is your goal/priority. In other words, many of us here
have had the most success at changing our body compositions by doing
some fairly strenuous weight training combined with "enough"
cardiovascular work - this as opposed to focusing on conditioning work
and only doing a little weight training.

As others will sooner or later point out to you here, please don't post
your replies at the top, as it makes it difficult to follow the flow of
things. Thanks.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Quoted message said:

I am currently following the weight watchers plan in addition to the
above
and hope to get back to some training this coming week.

Thanks for all the advice btw.

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"surfsup" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have been wondering about the following for some time.

Currently on a diet and have lost 3 stones in weight over a period
of
time.
Am now 5ft 8 and 11st 4 pounds and according to my little meter
thing
am 27%
body fat.

Congratulations on your weight loss. 11st 4 isn't terribly heavy for
5'8" in height and 27% bodyfat - I'm also 5'8", weigh just a little
under 11 st, but I'm 10-15% bodyfat. You don't mention your exercise
program, but it sounds like you would benefit from lifting weights in
some form, and it would make your dieting easier as well in that
you'd
be burning more calories every day.

Keep up the good work.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Quoted message said:

It seems most of my remaining fat is on my tummy as my legs, arms
etc
are
pretty lean if not skinny ( trying to build these up with weights
to a
degree )

My question is about my stomach. I have my podge at the moment and
have
heard that no amount of sit ups will remove this. Fine no problem.
Is
this
correct as I understand it ? I am on my diet to reduce my weight
and
body
fat hopefully reducing the size of my stomach. While I am doing
this
is it
still worth me doing sit ups so that when my excess body fat is
gone,
I will
be already reasonably toned underneath or is there no point to sit
ups
whatsoever until the excess fat is gone ?

Like I say I have already been doing sit ups for some time and when
I
tense
my stomach muscles I can feel a reasonably hard part under my layer
of
fat
( I would say about an inch worth ). Does that mean they are
working
in the
background and once the fat is gone I will see my results ?

Also how many would be recommended in a day to do ? Ie 100 all at
once
? 50
3 times a day ? 50 10 times a day ?

Many thanks.