What to expect from crunches

Little puzzled on what to expect from my workout.

I am currently doing 4-6 sets of 30 crunches eat day (the burning comes in at around 20 number).

Are 200 a day a good idea, or is this not enough or not varied enough. I have heard it mentioned that I should also work on the sides somehow?

One thing I know..... I have around 6 lbs to lose from my stomach alone (not including the rest) before I can actually see something. LOL....

Getting there :)

Couple of sites that may answer my question, but after some confirmation. regards

http://exercise.about.com/cs/abs/l/blbeginner abs.htm

http://www.firefightersworkout.com/fitbyte100 .html

This is tricky, because I've read/heard alot of contradictory advice regarding the abs.

What I can tell you is that some people believe you should work your abs every day. Some say you shouldn't, because your abs are just another muscle and need a day of work.

I've heard that being able to do 200 crunches is like lifting a 1 pound neoprene dumbbell 200 times. It won't make your muscles any stronger. You're just waisting your time.

I guess, I tend to believe that, because that makes sense, but, really I don't know :/ Maybe ask a fitness trainer :/

I know Pilates is supposed to really be good for your abs. I've only been to one class, but wow my abs were sore for days afterwards (in the good way). I think it's possible that you might see results faster if you do Pilates or yoga, since they work the abs a bit differently than traditional crunches. In Pilates and yoga, the abs are more there for support for the whole body, and it seems like it's more effective. But again, you have to do cardio to lose the fat covering the abs to see anything...

I agree with Haileycat.  Crunches are fine but you need to do cardio to beat the fat.  Crunches will strenghthen the muscles but won't do much to lose the fat around them.  I do a cardio mix class and the last 10 min is abs.  She does different excercises each time we meet with crunches being a part but not the main focus.  Get a pillates video at your library for beginners and try it for a week - it will give you lots of good excercises for the abs.  I bought a video at walmart that was $10 bucks and it is one of the best stretching type workout I've done.  Its a "Crunch" video and its a pillates/yoga mix.  It gets the whloe body a good stretch and boy did I feel it the next day.

hkellick is right,

Your abs are like any other muscle in your body and so they should be treated like it.  Do not work your abs directly every day. Would you work your arms, chest, back or legs directly every day?  No, and abs are just another muscle group of the body.

Abs get worked indirectly every day just by doing daily functions...keeping yourself upright, bending over, moving around, etc...as well, they get worked indirectly when doing any other exercise for workouts and cardio.  So, as a result, working them directly every day will eventually equate to overtraining of them...and obviously that's not good.

As far as reps go and volume...again, treat them like any other muscle group....because they are. If you apply resistance to them, then they will grow stronger...just like your arms, chest, back, etc..  Would you do 200 reps per set for your arms??  No.  So, you're not going to benefit from doing 200 or 100 or 50 per set for your abs.  Work them with resistance in the 6-12 rep range, like you would any other muscle. 

Work on upping resistance like you would any other muscle.  Start off with body weight if you have to, but then strive to increase resistance to your exercises over time. 

The moral of the story is, don't make things any more complicated than they have to be...abs are not some mystery muscle group...but rather the same as any other muscle complex within your body, and therefore should be treated the same for optimal results.

Hope that helps some.

-Todd

many thanks for the advice and ideas.

Regards