Ideal number of situps to do..

[Vegitto]

Howdy, y'all .

I started doing situps a couple of weeks ago, starting at 25 situps, three times a day, seven days a week. I increased the number of situps by 5 every week (ie, week 1 25 situps, week 2 30 situps etc. etc.), and now I'm at 55 (I increase every monday).

How would this work out, and at what number would I see a (significant) difference? I'm going for the oh-so-sexy sixpack. I wasn't fat when I started, and I'm still not fat now, but I hardly see any difference. The only difference I have noticed is that it made me a bit tired when I began at 25 near the end, and it still does, near the end.

My question to you is: Is this going to work? By how much should I increase every week? Should I ever stop doing it (ie stop at a certain number and just keep doing that, instead of increasing it)? And is three times per day for seven days per week enough?

Thanks in advance, y'all .

 

[gigapet]

Answer: you can do 10k situps a day and if you stil have fat you wont see any difference. ABS ARE MADE IN THE KITCHEN

 

[Baked]

Stop trying if you can't do 50 head to knee situps in a minute.

 

[Vegitto]

Originally posted by: gigapet
Answer: you can do 10k situps a day and if you stil have fat you wont see any difference. ABS ARE MADE IN THE KITCHEN

I don't get it. I'm male, by the way, so maybe I'm not supposed to get it. I thought the way to lose fat was excercise? What would you call this, then?

 

[Vegitto]

Originally posted by: Baked
Stop trying if you can't do 50 head to knee situps in a minute.

Might I add that I am 15?

 

[ggnl]

Unless you mix in some cardio, your "oh-so-sexy sixpack" will remain hidden under any flab you have.

 

[Kelemvor]

Gotta do more than just sit ups. THere are many muscle groups that make up the abs and they all have to be worked out. Also do they with weights to make it burn better.

 

[gigapet]

Originally posted by: Vegitto

Originally posted by: gigapet
Answer: you can do 10k situps a day and if you stil have fat you wont see any difference. ABS ARE MADE IN THE KITCHEN

I don't get it. I'm male, by the way, so maybe I'm not supposed to get it. I thought the way to lose fat was excercise? What would you call this, then?

Situps have zero todo with fat loss or six pack male or female. Fat loss is diet mostly and keeping an elevated heart rate for prolonged periods. And you cannot just get rid of fat in one area like your stomach. Only way to get ripped abs is lower your bodies over all fat %

situps serve to stengthen ab muscles but will not make you ripped if your BF% is too high.

ripped abs usually require BF < 10%

 

[ElMonoDelMar]

lol I think she means that the only way to get a six pack is to eat healty.

I've heard you can't get a sixxer without cardio, though.

 

[toekramp]

Originally posted by: gigapet

Originally posted by: Vegitto

Originally posted by: gigapet
Answer: you can do 10k situps a day and if you stil have fat you wont see any difference. ABS ARE MADE IN THE KITCHEN

I don't get it. I'm male, by the way, so maybe I'm not supposed to get it. I thought the way to lose fat was excercise? What would you call this, then?

Situps have zero todo with fat loss or six pack male or female. Fat loss is diet mostly and keeping an elevated heart rate for prolonged periods. And you cannot just get rid of fat in one area like your stomach. Only way to get ripped abs is lower your bodies over all fat %

situps serve to stengthen ab muscles but will not make you ripped if your BF% is too high.

ripped abs usually require BF < 10%

gigapet FTW

 

[imported_Trippin315]

I was always told that if you are going to have a six pack, then you should have acooler to go along with it.
Healty Wisconsin logic. Where deep fried cheese comes from.

 

[edro]

Originally posted by: gigapet
Answer: you can do 10k situps a day and if you stil have fat you wont see any difference. ABS ARE MADE IN THE KITCHEN

Perfect statement...

Seeing muscles (especially the abs) are a result of a low body fat percentage, thin and tan skin.

You need to get down around ~10% bodyfat to begin to see your abs.

Because you are probably a pale white guy, light reflects too well off your skin and even if you have abs showing, they are difficult to see, so you will need to start tanning. (this is why bodybuilders tan so much, and why black guys look huge and cut more often)

If you really want to get a six pack, clean up your diet (low fat, high protein), eat lots of protein (~150g a day), drink lots of water (1 gallon a day), and go tanning. You already have abs, you just need to see them.

 

[ShockwaveVT]

I would suggest doing not just regular crunches, mix in elbow-to-opposite-knee crunches (obliques), 1/2 crunches (only go 45 deg or so up), reverse crunches (curl hips & legs into the air) extensions, etc etc

do a circuit type exercise, start with 10 each of crunch, left elblow-to-right-knee, right-elbow-to-left-knee, reverse, exension and do 3 sets.

oh and if your abs are not burning after the workout you need to bump up the reps or increase the sets

also, focus on form, go slowly so you arent using rebound energy to cheat. & keep your neck relaxed.

 

[gigapet]

Originally posted by: ShockwaveVT
I would suggest doing not just regular crunches, mix in elbow-to-opposite-knee crunches (obliques), 1/2 crunches (only go 45 deg or so up), reverse crunches (curl hips & legs into the air) extensions, etc etc

do a circuit type exercise, start with 10 each of crunch, left elblow-to-right-knee, right-elbow-to-left-knee, reverse, exension and do 3 sets.

oh and if your abs are not burning after the workout you need to bump up the reps or increase the sets

also, focus on form, go slowly so you arent using rebound energy to cheat. & keep your neck relaxed.

abs are like any other muscle. They need rest and they can be overtrained.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Originally posted by: gigapet

Originally posted by: ShockwaveVT
I would suggest doing not just regular crunches, mix in elbow-to-opposite-knee crunches (obliques), 1/2 crunches (only go 45 deg or so up), reverse crunches (curl hips & legs into the air) extensions, etc etc

do a circuit type exercise, start with 10 each of crunch, left elblow-to-right-knee, right-elbow-to-left-knee, reverse, exension and do 3 sets.

oh and if your abs are not burning after the workout you need to bump up the reps or increase the sets

also, focus on form, go slowly so you arent using rebound energy to cheat. & keep your neck relaxed.

abs are like any other muscle. They need rest and they can be overtrained.

qft.

i worked my abs ONCE a week with ab machines doing at most 5 sets of 8-10 reps.

i was ripped and had a killer six-pack but not because of my lifting routine but because of my large amount of cardio and my very strict diet.

 

[Bozono]

0

 

[fustercluck]

I'm going to start working on my abs pretty soon. My plan is to use my 16lb bowling ball and just hold it while sitting down and kinda twist my waist left and right...not sure how that will work out though

I have read in the past that doing situps doesn't get rid of any fat, but i've also read that muscle burns fat, so i'm not sure what to think. I guess the answer is to do the ab excersizes and start eating better.

 

[dullard]

A sixpack of abs are quite difficult to get. Problem is you can have the strongest abs in the world, and if you have a layer of belly fat, you'll never see them.

So, yes, Gigapet is correct. You need very low body fat by eating right to get a sixpack.

I'm 5'9", 138 pounds, and I still have way too much belly fat to see my abs. I can feel the ripples, but I can't see them in the mirror. Although, I've only been working them for 4 months.

I tried the increasing situp ramp up like you did. Eventually it just got too much for my lower back. Now what I do instead is lie on my back, hold a heavy dumbbell straight up with both hands, and crunch the dumbbell upwards (hold for a bit, and then slowly let it down). This has really helped me focus the workout onto the abs, not the other muscles. Repeat with the dumbbell in just one hand to work the obliques. I can now just keep increasing the weight instead of the reps.

 

[SWScorch]

everyone else already told you that you need to get your body fat down through cardio, so I'll chime in saying that I do Steve Prefontaine's ab workout which consists of 50 regular crunches, 25 crunches to each side with opposite foot on other leg, 25 to each side laying on side, 50 bicycles, 50 leg lifts, 25 switchblades and 50 squiggly monsters. It works very well.

 

[Rip the Jacker]

I'm doing the P90X Ab Ripper X program, and I'm around 3 weeks into it. The workout is 16 minutes, and most of the exercises are with your legs, like sitting bicycles and backward bicycles, then kicking your legs out in the air, and lifting them...

There are no situps or crunches in Ab Ripper X, and I feel that situps/crunches are not enough or are too easy and will not get you a 6-pack alone. My abs compared to 3 weeks ago, feel like they're flexed and I'm not flexing them at all. Id say im around 40-50% into getting a 6-pack.

Point is..
1. dont do situps
2. do crunches, but also do other exercises, NOT JUST CRUNCHES

 

[purbeast0]

doing more than 20 situps/crunches in 1 set is pointless. if you are doing crunches properly, you will barely be able to do 20 of them in a row.

EDIT:

your abs are like any other muscle. would you do 55 curls or 55 bench presses? i highly doubt it ...

 

[kogase]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
doing more than 20 situps/crunches in 1 set is pointless. if you are doing crunches properly, you will barely be able to do 20 of them in a row.

EDIT:

your abs are like any other muscle. would you do 55 curls or 55 bench presses? i highly doubt it ...

Well, with curls and bench presses you can add more weight, so... the only way to advance with bodyweight exercises like chrunches is to do more.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: kogase
Well, with curls and bench presses you can add more weight, so... the only way to advance with bodyweight exercises like chrunches is to do more.

Like I posted above, there is no reason a crunch must be a bodyweight exercise.

 

[kogase]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: kogase
Well, with curls and bench presses you can add more weight, so... the only way to advance with bodyweight exercises like chrunches is to do more.

Like I posted above, there is no reason a crunch must be a bodyweight exercise.

Yeah, that's a way to do it, I suppose. Personally, I'm not interested in six-pack abs. I'd think of doing mostly bodyweight exercises as a way to build muscle endurance rather than strength.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: kogase
Yeah, that's a way to do it, I suppose. Personally, I'm not interested in six-pack abs. I'd think of doing mostly bodyweight exercises as a way to build muscle endurance rather than strength.

For endurance, you want both decent strength and high reps. So what you did is fine. It just doesn't fit the topic of this thread.