Stomach Exercises

[Renee]

I was wandering what type of exercises I can do at home for my tummy? I have an exercise ball that I thought of blowing the dust off and pumping it up again... I used to be able to do 150 sit ups in one sitting. What else can I do to tighten things up?...any insight would be great.

[Matt Emery]

Tummy exercises... now that's an interesting topic.

It's important to note that you cannot "spot reduce" an area of your body, doing sit-ups will not give you a slim stomach.  The stomach is usually the first place to store fat, and the last place that fat disappears from.  It's my belief that the body hangs onto the tummy fat as long as it can, as a defence against potential famine.

The only way to get a slim stomach is by increasing lean muscle mass and reducing overall body fat.  I have found this to be true through experience, and there are also numerous reports that prove this fact.

I recommend that you forget about doing 100's of sit-ups, it's pointless.  You would be far better off doing an overall body workout, at high intensity.

Doing the Caveman Power 15 Minute Workout will get you toned, and it will burn fat and increase lean muscle mass.  I guarantee that you will notice you're stomach getting tighter, but remember; it will probably be the last thing to feel tight - there's no way around that.

As for the fit-ball, it's an excellent tool for building your core strength and balance.  I have a lot of exercises you can do using a fit-ball (I might make a video and post it on the website).  Try kneeling on a fit-ball while lifting a weight or heavy ball above your head and behind your neck, this is excellent.  I will try and get more examples to you shortly.

In summary;

• Sit-ups are only for core strength, they do NOT give you a slim stomach.
• Overall body workouts that increase lean muscle and reduce body fat WILL give you a slim stomach.
• The fit-ball is for developing core strength and balance, and also helps when stretching.

[Foxy]

Have to agree with Matt, if you want good looking abs then you need to lose fat. I have what I consider to be good or better core strength and still have a tubby tum. I do about 100-200 situps daily (in sets, of course), I do allot of exercises with medicine and swiss balls specifically aimed at core strengthand I'm still not ripped there (far from it ).
I honestly dont care about turning my keg into a sixpack as I'm in it for performance more than looks, I want to play footy next year and a washboard stomach is further down my priority list than that elusive 300lb bench press. It still would be nice to have a decent set of abs though  . looks good hehe. 

Just to clarify Renee. Are you asking how to get visible abdominal muscles? how to increase core strength? Or are you asking for examples of abdominal exercises using a swiss ball?

[Renee]

Hey thanks guys...First of all you are right Matt, my tummy is the last place to firm up. I walk for an hour every day and I can definately feel other areas tightning. I shall start my 15 minute workout tomorrow and keep you posted.

Foxy - to clarify myself, I am not looking to get ripped but to firm up an area that copped a good stretching during my last pregnancy I just thought I would ask seeing as I`m new to all this exercising. Oh and thanks for the laugh....you have a good sense of humour

[Tony Bondioli]

I'm not a big fan of most "fitness gadgets," but there are a few of them out there that are excellent.  At the top of that list resides the Power Wheel, by Lifeline USA.

(Look under "Core Training" at www.lifelineusa.com )

This was invented by Jon Hinds, owner of the Monkey Bar Gymnasium.  http://www.monkeybargym.com  Awesome, awesome product.  Do a set of rollouts from your knees and let me know how your core feels the next day.  For a first-timer, 10 or 20 reps should be plenty.  Seriously.  Also, if you're thinking about getting a cheap knock-off of the Power Wheel, don't.  You can do wwaaayyyy more fun stuff with this product than with a simple department store ab wheel.

For the record, I am in no way affiliated with Lifeline USA, nor do I profit from the sale of their products.  I'm just a guy who's used their stuff, and have found it to be absolutely top-notch.  If you're looking for a great "portable gym," check out the Jungle Gym, the Power Pushup 2, and the TNT cables.  Along with a Power Wheel, they're pretty much all you'll ever need to get crazy strong.

 

[Twin_One]

I would have to echo Tony's advice about the Lifeline USA Power Wheel.  My husband was a wrestler at UW Madison and on the World team.  He benefited from the attention of Lifeline USA and Bobby Hinds for training ideas.  When the power wheel was introduced by Jon Hinds, he used it often in his training.  He talked about it so often, I recently bought one for myself.  I train alot with a variety of core workouts but in the last 3 weeks the benefits were pretty impressive.  There was a great research report in a Physical Therapy Vol 86 number 5 May 2006 that compared a variety of motions and exercises for activating the entire abdominal area. The power wheel was one of them.  The roll out on the Power wheel was by far the leading exercise.  If anyone is interested I think the article is posted at the their site.  Lifeline USA has an [http://www.lifelineusa.com/articles/fitness-equipment-articles.html] article section on the website that can be searched under power wheel research.
All said and done, it doesn't help if you don't eat right on top of everything else.

[Matt Emery]

Tony, i've also heard good things about LifeLine USA.  My Osteopath swears by it, and does a weekly class using the rubber bands.

Twin, thanks for the link, there are some great articles there, and I dig the approach of "functionality".  I feel I could learn a lot from this guy.

Being a Crossfit addict, I go for compound multi-joint exercises,  as they offer the most functionality (in my opinion), which translates to a healthier body.

I've found that doing Overhead Squats has increased my core strength incredibly.  Any exercise that requires keeping the back in the neutral position whilst under load is incredibly good for core stability/strength.  Air Squats are good as well.

Deadlifts have also strengthened my core/trunk.  In fact, there are many exercises that can be done to strengthen the core without having to buy special equipment, although the equipment mentioned here certainly won't hurt.

PS I realise this is not the type of advice for Renee, as I wouldn't throw a beginner into a Deadlift or OHS without proper advice/coaching - just thought i'd mention it for the others on this thread who are perhaps at an intermediate/advanced level of exercises.