To crunch or not to crunch???

[figurechamp]

If what your doing works.........
I am merrily providing suggestions, you do what works for you sista.
Best regards.

I leg press first coz squatting hurts too bad to start. My hips and knees need the leg press to warm them up first. I've tried, several times, to squat first and it never works out. Oh well!

 

[zedhed]

OK for your squat warm up try this.
Bike for 10 min @ 100-120 BPM.
Then catch your breath and.....
Do 5 sets of 12 ass to grass squats @ just bod weight.
Then get under the bar and work your way up to your work sets in 3 or 4 steps.
The ass to grass body weight squats should make a huge diff for you.
Give it a try and let us know how it works out for you.

 

[Soccerfreak]

Crunches are useless. Everybody really has a six pack, but not everybody can see it! You can only see abdominal definition with a low body fat percentage so it all boils down to having a clean diet. And by the way any compound workout like deadlifts/squats/pull ups builds your abdominal muscles--not crunches!

 

[Soccerfreak]

Your right snipers, lifting heavy will indeed burn more cals then cardio will anyday. The reason is that heavy lifting will continue to burn cals long after you are done working out. Cardio cannot do that. As soon as you are done with cardio the cal burn stops too.

THANK YOU for mentioning that! Totally agree.
Also, cardio makes me starve! What's the use of a treadmill to lose fat if I'd just go home and eat the house anyway..?

 

[zedhed]

LOL yep^^^

 

[thepinkone]

I'm loving these threads. "Abs are made in the kitchen" and "crunches are useless." Priceless.

 

[RottenWillow]

crunches are absolutely NOT useless. They're a very useful exercise in properly strengthening the core. I'd add though that if one wishes to recontour the midsection, training the rectus abs isn't enough. Gotta blast those transverse abs as well and crunches don't activate them very effectively. Hardcore vacuuming is indispensable. I'm at the point now where I'm down on all fours with a 1 pound plate duct taped to my ab wall while vacuuming. My entire midsection is completely concave now even when totally relaxed.

 

[dmk777]

crunches are absolutely NOT useless. They're a very useful exercise in properly strengthening the core. I'd add though that if one wishes to recontour the midsection, training the rectus abs isn't enough. Gotta blast those transverse abs as well and crunches don't activate them very effectively. Hardcore vacuuming is indispensable. I'm at the point now where I'm down on all fours with a 1 pound plate duct taped to my ab wall while vacuuming. My entire midsection is completely concave now even when totally relaxed.

Hey RW glad to have you back havnt heard from you for a while hope all is well

Donna


Sent from my iPhone

 

[slat1]

I do abs every day after my routines. One day its crunches. Nothing crazy. Two sets to twenty. The next its hanging leg raises. Same stuff. The third day its the swedish ball. Two sets to failure. Since I have been doing them that way I have had abs no matter what I weighed in at. Obviously at 278 they sucked but you could see four. At 237 now I can see six to eight just standing their. At 225 they are peeled to high hell. I like finishing off my routine with light abs.

 

[zedhed]

278 son! Unholy hell bro!