Sit ups

[Cycling Naturalist]

Mrs. S complained about a roll of fat round my waist and having read several scare stories in the papers ("Your fatty partner has only days to live") urged me to do something about it. I've been going to the gym about 3 or 4 times a week and getting bored out of my mind doing sit ups with one of those abs rocking cradle things. I was doing 500 with zilch effect save for the aforementioned boredom.

So, I've varied it by doing sit ups on a bench holding a 9 kg dumbell over my head. I did about 120 last night, intermingling it with various upper body exercises.

Is this the right way of going about it? I'm unwilling to do anything drastic like stopping drinking beer.

 

[LordoftheTeapot]

Never been to a gym so can't help with that.

 

[Aperitif]

Get a power plate...all your dinner will be shaken onto the floor and you'll get slim in no time.

 

[Kirstie]

Sod sit ups, take up Pilates!
It's the best workout your core will ever have, it magically erradicates back pain and it also makes you a better cyclist because you get great improvements in core stability, posture and so on.
It can reduce belly flab but only in conjunction with other exercise...

 

[rich p]

I'm in the same boat, Patrick - Beer + middle age = paunch despita plenty of excercise and healthy eating.

I don't have the will to go to a gym; won't give up beer so I make a token effort every so often to cut down on carbs or snacking.

Let me know if the boot camp approach works and I may have to give it a go.

 

[col]

Any increase in excercise should help,no matter what it is,also if you enjoy it,but i havnt found one i enjoy yet.

 

[walker]

To lose fat? no, you can't burn enough calories in doing situps to lose weight or fat. try tuning to running or swimming to shock the body away from cycling to get it to burn fat again

 

[Crackle]

I recommend using a medicine ball. Every time you pop up, you launch it randomly in any direction and then catch it when it comes back.

This is very good for the abs and has the added advantage of breaking the ice and involving everyone else in the gym!!

 

[col]

I recommend using a medicine ball. Every time you pop up, you launch it randomly in any direction and then catch it when it comes back.

This is very good for the abs and has the added advantage of breaking the ice and involving everyone else in the gym!!

They will break anything else they hit wont theysolid heavy things if memory serves?

 

[Tim Bennet]

There is no correlation between exercising a part of the body and reduction of fat in that place. It's a myth propagated by the sellers of exercise machinery. Increased muscle tone may make it look less flabby, but in your case (being typical of the older man) it would be a futile hope when faced with that much excess lard.

Reduction in the midriff will only happen if you either reduce the number of calories you are shovelling down your neck or increase the amount of calories you are burning. Getting the balance right becomes that much harder with each passing year.

If it's a real issue for Mrs S, she may want to think about trading you in for a younger model as it's a problem that will only get worse with decrepitude.

So speaks the voice of experience.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

As far as I'm aware, there's no big link between which part of your body is doing the excercise and which part of your body is losing the fat.

You're probably just better off doing some more cycling. :-D

 

[Kirstie]

There is no correlation between exercising a part of the body and reduction of fat in that place. It's a myth propagated by the sellers of exercise machinery. Increased muscle tone may make it look less flabby, but in your case (being typical of the older man) it would be a futile hope when faced with that much excess lard.

Reduction in the midriff will only happen if you either reduce the number of calories you are shovelling down your neck or increase the amount of calories you are burning. Getting the balance right becomes that much harder with each passing year.

If it's a real issue for Mrs S, she may want to think about trading you in for a younger model as it's a problem that will only get worse with decrepitude.

So speaks the voice of experience.

An inspirational post there from Tim...you're sounding a bit jaded there. Here, have a Tunnocks Teacake [passes box of Tunnocks]. They're low calorie, and you can eat them in at least 3 ways, one of which involves disembowelling them with a sharp instrument of your choice.

By the way I love your use of the word decrepitude.

 

[Crackle]

They will break anything else they hit wont theysolid heavy things if memory serves?

Indeed: Either the gym will rapidly run out of members and thereby have to close down, negating the need to go, though he needn't tell the missus but just convert the gym visits to the pub. Or the whole thing will catch on and become a new class which he can lead!!

 

[bonj2]

Mrs. S complained about a roll of fat round my waist and having read several scare stories in the papers ("Your fatty partner has only days to live") urged me to do something about it. I've been going to the gym about 3 or 4 times a week and getting bored out of my mind doing sit ups with one of those abs rocking cradle things. I was doing 500 with zilch effect save for the aforementioned boredom.

So, I've varied it by doing sit ups on a bench holding a 9 kg dumbell over my head. I did about 120 last night, intermingling it with various upper body exercises.

Is this the right way of going about it? I'm unwilling to do anything drastic like stopping drinking beer.

apparently according to my little bro, yes. (who is a bit of a 'gym geek').
He calls it 'weighted crunches'. But I can't do them, although I can do 30kg on the crunch machines like you mention earlier (of which my bro says 'ah yeah but that isn't proper crunches').

 

[piedwagtail91]

the only thing using weight for sit ups will do is build muscle , you don't want that you want tone otherwise your waist will get bigger from the muscle you build.likewise if you do what used to be called sideways bends, never use weight or your waist size will increase. crunches (no not the chocolate) will work the abs far better, if you're doing them into 3 figures you're doing them wrong and not getting much benefit.cycling more ,power walking, rowing , anything of that tpye will lose the fat, but you can't spot reduce it, you'll lose it from every where, probably from your waist last of all!
arnies encyclopedia of bodybuilding goes into great detail about the abs, as they want good tone and definition whilst keeping the waist as small as possible to make the chest look bigger