The Student Room Group
Reply 1
i fink ul fnd tht runin iz teh bst exrcse, or ne crdio fr tht mttr.
If ur gonna do situps get one of those big ball things and go through 210 degrees rather than just going flat, this ensures that all of the muscles get toned and not just certain ones and is far more effective... also you can do loads of other exercises which I am sure you could find searching round the web. Do situps with weights in your hands if you are hardcore like we used to have to for swimming training, bastards!!
Reply 3
I think a lot of walking is good for the arse
Reply 4
You need to do different excercises, not just one. If you just do sit ups, your body will stop responding after doing them for a reasonable amount of time.
The bicycle crunch. It tones your stomach and your bottom. Lay down on your back with your arms beside YOU, hands down. Put your legs together then Lift them up in the air so your body is in a 90 degree position then keeping your hands on the floor, push on your hands to lift your body up. Do this about ten times, take a break and start again. You can do as many as you want! Do it three hours after a heavy meal, two hours after a light meal and 1 hour after a snack for full benefits.
Reply 6
Bis
i fink ul fnd tht runin iz teh bst exrcse, or ne crdio fr tht mttr.


lollz
Reply 7
Run.
Reply 8
The thing that has got me most in shape in the last 5 years was rugby training :redface:. Even the gym doesnt add that much :s its all mainly from rugby.

So running, situps, squat thrusts etc are all very good
Swimming is generally good for everything, dunno how old you are but join a club and train once or twice a week if you dont really want to compete. Also most reputable clubs do land training and will do alot of these activities and they will do a lot of exercises designed to tone you up etc. Contact sports such as rugby are also good, but I hated it personally :biggrin:.
Key thing to remember here is that it's all well and good to do plenty of ab-focused excercises, but you'll have nothing to show for it if your abs are still covered in a blanket of fat. You become disheartened, slack off the ab work - and you're back where you started, love handles and all.

As mentioned countless times before here, cardio (running, cycling, swimming and all that) is essential if you want to shift the flab off your stomach. No, you can't reduce fat in specific areas only, I'm afraid. Cardio, and the eventual speeding up of your metabolism through focused excercise and healthy eating, shifts the fat off all around the body. It may seem like a slow, tedious process if you've got an overhang or any other areas you're aren't particularly proud of, but trust me, keep at it and it will go.

Oh, one more thing. When doing cardio work, do it to make yourself sweat. A lot. Staying dry through it does your body no favours!
Reply 11
Pilates...amazing, especially in conjunction to running.
Reply 12
I'm no professional, but I was advised by the personal trainer at work's gym about abdominal work. (Also note that I don't have a six-pack nor am I particularly fit yet :p:)

The range of motion between flat and about 45 degrees from the floor exercises your abdominal muscles pretty much exclusively. This means that all sorts of crunches and stuff like hip-to-knee exercises are good for exercising abdominals.

Sit-ups tend to move you all the way up to 90 degrees from the floor and after about 45 degrees, your hip flexors kick in (muscles which move your legs around your hips, hence the name) so you'll be exercising them as well rather than your abdominals. Thus sit-ups and leg raises aren't quite as effective as crunches for purely abdominal exercises.

You can find information on both of those (and other useful information) at ExRx, which Pete (personal trainer guy) showed me. :smile:

One important thing to note about working your abdominals is that you should also exercise your back and be sure to stretch your abdominals after exercising them. Otherwise you can end up with a stoop, because your abdominals are tight and pull you forwards, or so I was told by Pete.

Of course, cardio is always good and muscle building/toning are more effective after a cardiovascular workout. And warming up, cooling down and stretching are a necessity when working out.
Reply 14
with sit-ups, just crunch - if you come all the way up, you take the strain off of your muscles and they don't work as hard. Only come perhaps 20 degrees off of the floor, hold for a second, and then go down again but don't let your shoulders touch the floor. Focus your eyes on a point on the ceiling or opposite wall, and put your tongue on the roof of your mouth - it may sound silly, but this will stop you tensing your neck up.

All the sit-ups in the world will do nothing, however, if you don't run.