Abdominal exercises

[temp256]

I've been searching, but all I can find are exercise machine and diet pill scams. What's a good exercise to flatten the abdomen? I'm not looking to get a six pack, or even lose any weight. I just want a flat stomach.

So far I've been doing about 25 situps a day. It's definitely improved my muscle strength, but it's done nothing to flatten. If anything, it made it worse.

What can I do?

 

[Eilan]

Abs are a function of diet.

 

[L8tnIt]

more than sit-ups

An exercise I recommend is what I call "Cross-Punches"
A) lay flat on the floor with your feet under a chair or couch
B) hold your arms up with your fists above your head (kinda like a boxing pose)
C) bend at the waist like a straight-leg sit-up. When you reach the apex, do a quick 1-2 jab; then return to your original laying down position

Not only are you working your front abdominal muscles at this point, but you are 1. Working your side abdominals as well. 2. Increasing arm & ab flexability 3. Shaping the abs that everyone wants noticed
This may still take a while, but all good things are worth hard work

 

[Texguy84]

What you need to do is do some longer periods of cardio (start with 20 minutes of cardio 3 times a week, then gradually increase from there), which can include situps, pushups, running, jumping jacks, etc. Adjusting your diet may also be necessary. Make an honest analysis of your eating habits and decide if you need to cut back or try different things. You might be able to lose the fat just by doing the cardio, of course, as long as you don't make up for it by celebrating with hot wings and pizza like I do.

Situps by themselves will simply build up the muscle in your abs, which could make you look "fatter" since the fat is layered on top of the muscle that you are building. Don't stop doing them though, since they're still cardio. Once you do burn that fat off, imagine what you'll have to show off!

 

[Texguy84]

One thing I've seen is either doing a very fast-paced workout (pushups-then-crunches-then-squats-then-planks-then-flutterkicks-etc.) or doing a slower-paced workout where you spend a minute or so between each workout jogging in place (pushups then crunches then jog in place for a minute, planks then flutterkicks, jog in place for a minute). Use the jogging in place to try different kinds of jogging, such as High Knees and Butt Kicks, to work on your leg flexibility.

 

[temp256]

I should probably mention I'm as skinny as can be. It's definitely not fat. I don't need to lose weight or fat, and doing so would be severely detrimental to my health. That's what makes my situation puzzling.

 

[myvfangirl]

All good advise, but I would say the only thing I would add to your routine would be some lower ab exercises since those tend to be neglected in most workouts. Maybe check out some of the Sahrmann exercises for the lower abs and see what you think. Just remember to "draw in" when you do them. Tighten your abs without letting the arch in your back move at all. Good luck!