Do Sit-ups help?

[massarmor]

ok, so I was having this discussion with my friend. He believes that if you do enough sit-ups, and keep working out and running, then he will eventually have nice looking ripped abs without changing his diet. I said that having nice abs is completely determined on your diet and if it is not changed, then he is in trouble even if he is working out.

Do you think that even if you never do sit-up exercises and just changed your diet to get ripped, that you would get those abs? Sure they may not be as big, but what do you think?

Then I was thinking that maybe it's just what type of body you have... I think he's a type of mesomorph. I'm wondering about this too cause I think we both have similar body structures.

 

[quigley]

combination of both. u can build abs through training, and reveal them through getting rid of the fat on your stomach (which comes through attention to diet and training)

 

[flytrapcan]

Friend of mine does not do ab training, feels he gets enough from Running and weights - the little he does. He does not have much in the way of muscular abs, but they are flat, fat free and visible. He does watch his intake. I guess my answer is that you can have a nice midsection with no specific ab training, but you need the diet to get rid of the fat. However, I'd say the mid-section always looks better with some hard work added.

 

[xtraflossy]

if your bodyfat is low enough to show good deffination, then assuming you dont put on any bodyfat, just doing ab work can make them look better.


You dont need to change your diet, assuming your already pretty flat. building up your abs will make them show through more.

On the other side, if you did NO ab work, you have those muscles. You just need to be able to see them.
You can trim some fat without changing your diet at all, just your calorie expendature

 

[glenihan]

i do zero ab work .. your abs get worked when doing things like squats and deads

diet and cardio are what will give you defined abs

FWIW unweighted situps are a huge waste of time

 

[xtraflossy]

i do zero ab work .. your abs get worked when doing things like squats and deads

diet and cardio are what will give you defined abs

FWIW unweighted situps are a huge waste of time

I thought I remember oyu saying you do weighted situps once in a while...
So are you sayin that you don't do any??

 

[zarro84]

I think that you can get ripped abs without changing your diet, but it is not going to come from situps. You would have to increase your energy expenditure between cardio and weight training, to a pretty high level for that to happen. I say it's infinately easier to just work your ass off and diet.

 

[glenihan]

I thought I remember oyu saying you do weighted situps once in a while...
So are you sayin that you don't do any??

a while ago every once in a while i would do a set of weighted sit ups or a comparable exercise .. but i haven't in a long time now and see absolutely no difference

 

[Ubiquitous]

Finally something I disagree with Glen on.

I feel unweighted crunches or situps are not a waste of time per se...

A lot of times it will give a novice that feeling of contraction that they need to get used to when keeping their core tight.. more like a conciousness....and high reps with low weight can work your abs very well indeed. I used to do an embarrassing amount of ab work daily, but my abs were glorious.. LOL

Core work (unweighted or weighted) is very beneficial.. yoga and pilates show this quite well.

To the original poster, it can be a combo of both... yet direct ab work will yield hypertrophy, moreso than indirect work.

 

[glenihan]

eh ubi makes a pretty strong case there ... i just usually claim things i don't do are wastes of time to begin with

 

[jminis]

If he's an ecto he can probably not change his diet and get the abs. If he's not he's going to have a hard time doing it. I work abs at most once a week, I usually do rope crunches maybe 3-4 sets/every 2 weeks.

Note:
Glen doesn't work his shoulders so what does he know:bruce1:

 

[Ubiquitous]

eh ubi makes a pretty strong case there ... i just usually claim things i don't do are wastes of time to begin with

You know what works for you, you've conquered an obstacle many struggle with.

 

[Force of Green]

I had decent abs over the summer from just tightening them/flexing them in whatever activity I did, whether it be kayaking, rowing, or swimming. Diet used to be decent too, but I would have cheat meals or I'd drop weight.

 

[mclovin30]

I was wondering about this because I just made a new workout routine and did not have room to include any ab exercises. But I will be doing Squat and Dead lift on Fridays. I am gonna do 10 sets and 10 reps for everything. As soon as I can compete all 10 sets without having to drop weight to get through it I will make an increase in weight for the next workout. I have been doing sit ups for the past 9 months but I am no where near lean enough to have visible abs anyway.