I have been doing about 20 sit-ups a day. 10 when i wake up in the morning and 10 when i go to bed. Now my stomach is real sore. Does this mean the exercise is working or am i doing harm to myself? I'm trying to tighten up my stomach muscles.
2006-08-29 04:49:34 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
If your stomach is sore after doing sit-ups, then it means that your tummy muscles (also known as Abs
The reason why they get sore is as follows:
When you put MORE strain on a particular muscle than that muscle is used to, it works harder to accomadate for that extra strain...
And in doing so, your muscles fibres actually tear. (This is the Soreness that you experience...and it kinda feels tender or stiff)
Now you may think that this is bad news , but its actually how u get stronger and better looking muscles...
Because your body realises that the particular muscles has taken abit of strain, and in order to avoid it happening again, your body repairs the torn firbes (AND adds new fibres to the existing ones to prepare for the next bit of strain the muscle might experience in the future) This is how you get bigger muscles...
And in order to keep your muscles in shape (or make them bigger) you have to eat the right amount and the right KIND of foods... your body uses PROTEIN to repair broken fibres and uses CARBOHYDRATES as energy to fuel your muscles...
Im sorry for going so indepth into the subject, but i hope u understand now WHY you get sore.
Remember to take it slowly at first because its a new "strain" on your abs...but u will see in no time that the soreness goes away, and you will also find that doing your 20 situps will seem to easy...thats when you need to increase your reps (Reps = Repetitions...ie the amount of times you do the excercise)
At the moment you are doing 2 SETS of 10 reps.
For more information on how to get a good body and maintain a halthy lifestyle, heck out the website below (it may be intimidating at first, but remember, these guys and girls ALSO started out from scratch at one point in their lives)
2006-08-29 05:03:00 · answer #1 · answered by Jazz 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
20 sit-ups a day shouldn't cause that kind of soreness unless you're dreadfully out of shape. Take a couple days off to make sure it's not something else.
2006-08-29 11:56:20 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should stretch after you do sit-ups-do a long stretch lying on your back with your arms over your head, then roll over onto your stomach and gently raise your upper body like a cobra yoga stretch. Doing these two stretches will really help.
2006-08-29 12:07:38 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, if it's just a muscle ache it's a good thing. Your muscles just aren't used to being worked like that, that's all.
2006-08-29 12:04:44 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Normal for starting off. It shouldn't last more than a couple of weeks tops and you should be able to do more with less discomfort.
2006-08-29 11:56:18 · answer #5 · answered by scooba 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you work out heavily, you get tiny tears in your muscles. When they heal, they become stronger, thus, bigger muscles.
Keep working at it.
2006-08-29 11:54:55 · answer #6 · answered by Judge Smails 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ya it is normal if u haven't do vigorous exercise for a long time...n after a few days...the pain will go away...so dun worry =)
2006-08-29 11:56:17 · answer #7 · answered by mrsdongwan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
normal
2006-08-29 11:53:24 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋