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Question on exsercise

  • Thread starter altrade212
  • Start date
i been doing crunches for about 3 weeks now, how long do you guys think it would take to finally start seeing some abs showing?
 
It all depends on your physique. I'm pretty thick in the waist, so when I started doing crunches and other exercises for my abs, I didn't expect much; I do it to maintain my strength for work and martial arts. Really, all that's changed since then is that my stomach kind of sticks out in a flatter way, because I've put on muscle but haven't lost much fat. I guess I've dropped some inches off of my waste, but it's hard for me to tell except that I'm buying smaller pants nowadays.
If you're a really skinny guy, you can see results in as little as two weeks, with the right diet - back in middle school my friend Cody got all crazy into this Navy boot camp exercise regemine he read about and the changes were unbelievable. But, he was skinny as a rail to begin with and had a metabolism to match, which makes him an exceptional case. If you really want to see results, make sure to do multiple sets each time you work out, and try to do sets to exhaustion, I.E. keep going until you can't do any more, then rest for thirty seconds to a minute and begin again. I try to do that more than once a day, but with schoolwork and other things I'm lucky if I can do it five times a week, outside of the dojo. If you can stick with that kind of routine for a month, you should start noticing some differences in your stamina and strength, if not your appearance and waist size.
Something that might be handy to know is that it helps to exercise before your first meal of the day; when you work out in the morning you burn more fat and stored sugars/carbs because your blood sugar isn't high from having just eaten. Your body is also in better condition for exercise with an empty stomach, as it takes a lot of resources (like circulation) to digest a meal. I like to exercise in the morning because it helps me focus during the day.
Best luck; make sure to stick with it!
~Joe
 
Altrade, another way to define you abs, beleive it or not, is running - especially sprints. Try adding 10 200 meter hill sprints to your workout, if you have the time...Well, you may want to start off with 4 or 5 to see what sort of effect the soreness will have on your daily life.

If you combine the two excersizes, you'll see better results.
 
i use a bowflex and do 300 crunches a day. one in am morning, around noon, and in the evening.

guess i like to excercise because of the endorphine rush i get.

and eat like a monkey with protein shakes. the raw food diet is the way to go!
 
Just like a phil, you're correct. Raw food diets are very good, healthy, and natural diets. A good balance of healthy vegetables and fruits, combined with good sources of undamaged (basically uncooked) proteins and amino acids is the way to go. As for exercises, just make sure you add variety to your routine. If not, your body may get too accustomed to the exercises, and it will cease to be effective. I think this is because when you exercise, you rip your muscles, and then they repair making them bigger and stronger. When you perform the same motions without change, your body and muscular, um..., composition (I dont know) will change, making it easier for your body to perform those motions. I believe that's how it goes...
 
bingo. your body adapts. your body is always adapting.

and it's a pill LOL. my name's clint.
 
negative calorie foods are great for your metabolism, too.
 
Doing crunches only will not give you a six pack. You have to have low body fat. I agree with schloaty: I think that running is the best all-around exercise. When combined with a little weight-lifting, it can really bring out muscle tone.
 
thats right. you can't see a sixpack if it's covered in flab!!!

but when i read that i thought you meant you had to have low body fat first, IE diet then excersise. big mistake! you need to excersize and diet at the same time.


but if you'r on a diet you need to not eat too few calories. if you eat too few your body will think it's starving and put on fat.

i've read that lavender oil helps emulsify fat, so you might want to buy lavender pills or eat lavendar (yes it's edible)


and while your at it, taking cool showers helps speed up the metabolism. so do stimulants like coffee and green tea. theres a chemical in green tea that makes the brain work faster thus increasing the metabolism. and the caffein in coffee is good for the skin.
 
  • #10
Careful with overdoing the caffiene though! Between all those raw foods and cups of coffee you'll have no trouble losing wieght running to the bathroom, hehe.
Seriously, though, these folks are right; don't expect a sixpack off the bat. I've been at it for two years now, and I still can't get my wieght down enough for any definition to show. To stick with your plan long enough to see the results you want, you need to appreciate the non-aesthetic benefits of exercise, like feeling more energetic and having more strength and stamina. I would've given up on exercise a long time ago if I were just in it to look better.
If you really want to lose the fat, these guys have the right idea - get lots of aerobics, find a healthy diet that you can stick to, and keep with it. In addition to running or jogging, biking, hiking, and swimming are all very good for you, as well as full-body sports like basketball and soccer. If you're active, I don't think you'll need much abuse to build a sixpack - it's more a matter of dropping enough fat that it can show.
I've been told that drinking some icewater or eating some ice shortly before eating (like 15 minutes before) is helpful in speeding up the metabolism and fully digesting your food. Your stomach can only take in nutrients when they're at approximately the same temperature as your body, so by ingesting something cold before eating your stomach has to work a little harder to warm everything up before taking it in. The opposite is true of exercise; you should take room-temperature water when working out so that your body is able to take in the water without expending energy warming it up. My jujitsu instructor harps on us about drinking icewater before class because, according to her, you actually lose water when drinking cold beverages because the cold water is shunted directly to the bladder and body water is used to warm the stomach back up.
~Joe
 
  • #11
dont drink too much water though. you'll flush out all of those essential water-soluble vitamins.
 
  • #12
well every morning i take a 10lb weight and put it on my stomagh and to 100 crunches, i also jog the G.W bridge at least 2 or 3 times a week

i started about 2 weeks ago, im seeing some changes and feeling abs now, i just hope by september i want to be cut up, at least have a nice toned 4 pack

im 6'5 and weight 240lbs
 
  • #13
6'5" ? Dang. You in the NBA? I'm only 6'~6'1", and 195~200 pounds. Hmm...
 
  • #14
so by september u think i would have some? im seeing two abs now lol, beter than nothing!!!
 
  • #15
right. even if you used to be pudgy but lost weight to a healthy level with little body fat around the middle you might not see abs because of the exess skin left over
 
  • #16
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]As for exercises, just make sure you add variety to your routine. If not, your body may get too accustomed to the exercises, and it will cease to be effective. I think this is because when you exercise, you rip your muscles, and then they repair making them bigger and stronger. When you perform the same motions without change, your body and muscular, um..., composition (I dont know) will change, making it easier for your body to perform those motions. I believe that's how it goes...
...That explains alot.

Dangit, I need a heavier, more compact weight.. mine is 6.6 pounds (used to be my mom's when she lived here the first time, and it's one of two.. my grandfather uses the other one) and it takes wayyyy too many repetitions to have any effect. Plus, it's friggin' MASSIVE. I need a smaller, heavier one.
 
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