Sit-ups daily, good or bad?

Question

If I were to do sit-ups daily I know I would burn fat but would my muscles break down too much? Should I do them everyday for a while, until I lose my gut, and then switch to every other day?

Answer 1

My cross-country coach used to always tell us, "There is no such thing as on-the-spot reduction", backing this up by studies done on professional tennis players - both their dominant arms, and their non-dominant have the same perentage of fat.

With this in mind, you can tone your muscles by doing sit-ups, but without aerobic exercise to lose fat all over your body, you will still have your gut.

Toning muscles involves many repetitions with small rests in between so as not to over exert the muscle, usually done everyday, with one rest day per week. To build muscle mass like a body builder, you need to continutally burn (over-exert) the muscle on one day, and then allow the muscle heal on the next day. Probably not the best option for reducing a 'gut'.

And just doing sit-ups everyday will probably not be aerobically effective enough to burn fat, but it might help.

Answer 2

Depends on a lot of factors. Doing push ups, sit ups, and other exercises in the morning and then doing weights in the afternoon wont harm you if you keep it in moderation. First work up to all this slowly. Start out just building some endurance and getting the muscles ready. Then you can start making a plan to increase weekly. Getting ready for Ranger school and other training I would often do a long run in the morning, sit ups, push ups, pull ups etc then go weight lift at night. This was all in conjunction with eating square meals and knowing when I should quite. there were days when I didnt do weightlifting because my body was too sore or I knew I would probably hurt myself. The best advice I can give you is to start out slowly. As for the legs, do not neglect the run and the effect that can have for you. Too many people do the sit ups and push ups fine but lack on the run. You should be running at least the requirements for the APFT (2 miles) and I would encourage you to actually work your way up to 3-5 miles everyday. Some days you should do sprints then a shorter run, other days do a long 5 mile run with a cool down. Ask your recruiter to help you develop a plan for BCT so that you get there in shape. Good luck and Good job at starting early getting ready. PS ensure that during in processing, which is normally one week long, you still continue to work on the pushups, situps and if they allow the run.

Answer 3

Sit Ups Everyday

Answer 4

You lose fat on your abs by eating properly not by doing sit-ups. Because it's a scientific fact you can NOT burn fat only in one area of the body! And if you do not eat properly you won't lose the fat no matter how many sit-ups you do! Sit-ups only will help you build and strengthen your ab muscles. Indirectly it helps burn fat by burning calories. If you burn more calories then you consume you will lose weight. However working out large muscle groups (legs, back etc.) burn more calories then sit-ups. Which means you will actually lose weight faster.

As far as sit-ups everyday. BAD. The abs are like any other muscle they need time to recover. I use to do sit-ups everday and my abs never looked any different! It wasn't until I did weighted Sit-ups once-a-week (maybe twice) that my abs began to show threw and look good! I know many bodybuilders who train the same way. If you do not work out other bodyparts then I would train them with weights first of all, secondly try training them on day 1 then take two days off then repeat. The key is proper nutrition, recovery, and heavy weighted sit-ups(8-20reps).
This link will give you a basic idea:
http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/AbPack.htm

Answer 5

Sit up will strenghten your muscles and will build them up, that doesn't mean you'll lose your belly. Belly fat is hard to lose and you need to diet with the sit ups. Cut out all carbs, limit yourself to 2 slices of bread a day, no doughnuts or muffins, anything with flour goes straight into your gut. Replace the carbs with fruit, if you're afraid you don't get enough fiber, drink some that's available at the drugstore. They even have some that dissolves in water. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
Good Luck!

Answer 6

There are arguments on both sides of this one, and I'm not sure why! Abdominals are muscles (rectus abdominus, obliques) and like all the others, should be worked every other day. When you do sit ups you will not burn fat, you will burn calories. Burning fat is when you're doing something that makes you really move and sweat like tae bo and kickboxing. Working with resistance burns calories, both are good.

Answer 7

Sit ups will tone muscles not burn fat. I used to do hundreds of sit ups everyday, but nope fat is still there. But my ab muscles are definately toned.

Answer 8

actually its the opposite youll have lots of muscles but you wont burn fat. for buring fat you need to do a high intesity cardio like running or kick boxing or something. i have been doing sit ups daily for a while but other that soreness there really isnt anything wrong with it. and btw i didnt lose "fat". gl

Answer 9

good for your abs not so good for your neck. make sure you keep your neck loose. don't for instance pick a spot on the ceiling and stare at it. bend and unbend your neck as you do each sit-up. and would suggest taking every third day off so as not to overwork the muscles

Answer 10

sits ups each day is fine. read tips on ab workout s and much more on exericse programs on this site