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Thread: Sit-ups and crunches need to be retired...

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    Post Sit-ups and crunches need to be retired...

    Sit-ups and crunches need to be retired... It’s Time to Kill Off Sit-Ups and Crunches for Good. The two dated exercises put unnecessary strain on your body, and won't give you the washboard core you're looking for.

    For better or worse, we are firmly headed into “get six-pack quick” season. It’s the fitness holy grail that launched a thousand Men’s Health covers, and this year, approaching a summer where most of us will take our shirts off in front of people for the first time in almost two years, it’s inevitable that many will revive the old standby.

    Should they? Probably not. Most personal trainers and exercise physiologists caution against beach bod-driven regimens. Overworking “show muscles,” (the biceps, the calves, the abs), can come at the expense of a functional, full-body routine. Overanalyzing the size of those muscles usually leads to unrealistic expectations. If you double down on a diverse workout scheme, quality sleep and a diet that limits non-processed ingredients, you’ll naturally arrive at a tighter core, anyway — all while feeling good about yourself.

    Regardless: post-pandemic, once gyms are open again, I know I’ll see a guy in the corner banging out crunches. All credit for the effort, but comparatively, it’s a waste of time. The crunch, along with its cousin, the sit-up (which has a longer range of motion — that’s the one someone holds your feet down for), constitute core training’s most ubiquitous move. But they also represent abdominal work at its most useless.


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    Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect. -- Woody Hayes​

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    donttread (04-18-2021)

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    Gyms are open here but require an appt in advance.

    The crunch thing reminds me of a certain gal who likes the idea of people watching her work out rather than actually working out. Her crunches are legend. She'll go to the wall, lie down her back and put her feet up on the wall. Then, she nods her head -- nothing else. I kid you not. I don't think even her cervical vertebra come up off the mat--just head tilting. As she performs her crunches others exchange smiles and knowing eyebrow lifts. When she's done, she typically stands up, sighs deeply as if she's worn out, and then pulls her thong leotard out of her crack.
    ""A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul" ~George Bernard Shaw

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    My wife still does a couple hundred sit ups a day at 60. It doesn't bother her at all.

    I keep telling her that at 200 lbs and a foot taller, that 200 sit ups takes a little more effort for me. Then I open a beer.

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    I have lower back problems from an old Army injury, so once I retired I stopped doing setups and crunches. I do other exercises for core to include trunk twists with a pull cable and light weight. I also like my ab wheel.

    Something similar to this

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    Quote Originally Posted by DGUtley View Post
    Sit-ups and crunches need to be retired... It’s Time to Kill Off Sit-Ups and Crunches for Good. The two dated exercises put unnecessary strain on your body, and won't give you the washboard core you're looking for.

    For better or worse, we are firmly headed into “get six-pack quick” season. It’s the fitness holy grail that launched a thousand Men’s Health covers, and this year, approaching a summer where most of us will take our shirts off in front of people for the first time in almost two years, it’s inevitable that many will revive the old standby.

    Should they? Probably not. Most personal trainers and exercise physiologists caution against beach bod-driven regimens. Overworking “show muscles,” (the biceps, the calves, the abs), can come at the expense of a functional, full-body routine. Overanalyzing the size of those muscles usually leads to unrealistic expectations. If you double down on a diverse workout scheme, quality sleep and a diet that limits non-processed ingredients, you’ll naturally arrive at a tighter core, anyway — all while feeling good about yourself.

    Regardless: post-pandemic, once gyms are open again, I know I’ll see a guy in the corner banging out crunches. All credit for the effort, but comparatively, it’s a waste of time. The crunch, along with its cousin, the sit-up (which has a longer range of motion — that’s the one someone holds your feet down for), constitute core training’s most ubiquitous move. But they also represent abdominal work at its most useless.


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    As someone with Sciatica I think the cfrunch was a bad idea like always. Well at least for the over 40 crowd. As for 6 pack I long ago chose to protect mine with an insulating layer of fat. Those tV models sixers are exposed to injury and weather!

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    I like doing crunches. Put a partially flat rubber ball in the small of your back and, they're much easier and, you can do more.

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    Sit-ups and crunches are safe if done correctly. Doing them for time is problematic.

    But there are better exercises for core strength. Planks. Ab rollers.

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