You could always go the Mariah Carey route (hint: it involves an airbrush, several colors of spray tan, and a drastic underestimation of the observational abilities of the general public.)
Sit-ups: they’re the one exercise everyone has tried. Mostly because you can’t help it. Even as a baby it was one of the first things you learned – right after how to spit-up. You want to get out of bed in the morning? You sit up.
But these days sit-ups have gone from blase to being a raging topic of debate in the fitness world. They’re either the yellow brick road to brick-hard abs or they’re evil incarnate and not only are pointless (“you have to lose the fat first!!”) but may even be counterproductive by building – and I’m using the technical phrase here – pokey outey muscles. Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow are reportedly in the former camp, regularly clocking hundreds of abs, sans roller, a day. Britney Spears once bragged of doing 1,000 sit-ups a day to stay in Toxic snake-dancing form. In the other camp you have Angie Harmon who boasts of never intentionally sitting up unless she has an actual reason to do so, such as getting out of bed for a bikini shoot. Right along with her is Abtastic Spice Geri Haliwell who says her Bond girl stomach comes from eschewing abs and sticking with dog walking and yoga. I’ve yet to hear anyone, celeb or otherwise, say “Sit-ups? Meh. I do a few here and there. They’re all right.”
Regardless of which side of the ab spectrum you fall, there is a serious side effect to sit-ups that you should know about. (If I worked for Self or Vogue right now I’d be all “The Disastrous Exercise You ARE Doing That May Be RUINING YOUR HEALTH! Search madly for our non-existent table of contents to find this article before the grocery checker gets to your order or you WILL DIE!” Ahem.) Two friends, who shall remain nameless for reasons soon to become apparent, both came down with the same, um, medical condition. And they both got it from doing sit-ups.
Problems of the Butt
The official term is “posterior ulcer.” I call it blistered badonkadonk. Basically it happens when you do sit-ups in such a way as to rub all the skin off your tail bone. As painful as a carpet burn and as embarrassing as a bed sore, these ulcers can take months to fully heal. Knock on formica, I’ve never had this issue but it is hard to ignore when two super-fit girls in my life both did this to themselves in the same week.
I giggled. A lot. But it really isn’t funny (stop laughing!). These ladies both now have problems with anything that requires just basic sitting, even with out the -upping. In addition to experiencing serious ridicule from their friends and loved ones, they’ve had to put up with tons of invasive questions from me. True story: had a 20-minute convo on the treadmill about one friend’s blister. Nothings says “run on the free hand sanitizer” like oozing fluid talk on the tready!
So What To Do?
Both friends would like to maintain their lovely flat tummies and so were asking my advice as to what kinds of ab work they could do that didn’t involve leveraging off their broken butts. While I came up with hanging leg raises, the Roman chair and various Pilates moves, Women’s Health Magazine did me one better:
Called “the craziest ab move ever invented,” the Wicked Wiper is supposed to be the best ab exercise out there. In fact, it’s so crazy your average fitness model can’t do it! If you read that last paragraph on the picture (click to enlarge) you’ll find:
Full disclosure: As for the ripped gal in our photos? Not even she could do it! We used photoshop magic to erase the dude holding her up.
I gotta say I was wondering how she was managing to smile while doing such a stunt. How’s that for truth in advertising?
So there you go – if you break your butt, you’ve always got the Wicked Wiper to keep you in shape. Or you could just ask Angie Harmon’s mom to please birth you.
How do you feel about ab work? Do you love to crunch, crunch, crunch? Or are you one who runs away if a Swiss ball even rolls in your general direction? Do you subscribe to a particular type of ab theory (Pilates? Yoga? Tupler? Mariah Carey??)?
Written By Charlotte Hilton Andersen for http://thegreatfitnessexperiment.blogspot.com only! Not to be re-published without permission.
i LOVE ab work. i don't think it does much for a 6-pack in my case but it makes me feel strong and helps me stand up pretty straight. and as a tall girl i appreciate that. and hahaha to posterior ulcer. well not really funny but i giggled too. at one point in my life i was convinced that something like that was happening to me (because i did my ab work straight up on the hardwood flooring — ouch!) but it was only minor bruising or something. no oozing here hahah!
That Women's Health move is outrageous. I can only imagine the damage I'd do to me and everyone around me while attempting that. I find I get the best ab workout from Pilates moves, the hundred, and the plank. Still, I would never say crunches are pointless.
I remember seeing that in Women's Health and thinking there is no way she could do that, and then laughing out loud when I read the disclaimer.
I am a big lover of ab work. It hurts and it works. Nuff said. But I admit that you've scared me with the ulcer stuff; might I use that as an excuse to stop Ab Ripper X early? Nah…
I believe the most beneficial core training comes from doing "functional" (annoying buzz word) compound movements like deadlifts, snatches, squat variations, kettlebells, ect. The only time I do plain old crunches is in taekwondo class when I have too and then I scoff (secretly). 😉 HOWEVER, ab work can be fun and occasionally I'll work on the ball or do planks. I really love pikes on the ball. Makes me feel like I'm training for the Cirque du Soleil or something fancy.
But if I'm wanting six pack abs – then it's all about "abs are made in the kitchen" with a side dish of genetics.
My cousin had a rigid ab workout for six months and it worked for her.Of course, she needed to have a change in diet as well for the ab workout to be effective.
i'm definitely an ab work lover, working them until it really burns is always the best way to conclude a good workout.
still i wonder how you get that ulcer from simply lifting and lowering your upper body? i really don't get it, will you help me out? maybe it's because i'm a doing-this-bodyweight-exercise-only-static-without-any-swing-person. well, could also be my lack of understanding every nuance in english but after reading again and again and again i still don't get it (non-trained brain, yeah, i know, i will learn tomorrow…or the day after tomorrow… 😉 )
I dont really do too much ab work other than crazy balancing, floating, and aerial hoovering yoga moves. Those things tax your core and work it better than any other moves, for me at least, and I got my 6 pk going even after popping out a kidlet so for me, it works but whatever works for everyone else…work it.
thanks for your awesome and inspiring email today. that's been tossed 'round my gray matter all day. Once life calms down, i will be pursuing and pestering you, im sure. But it's a 6 mo out type of thing, gotta get our locale straightened out first.
And if I can help you with anything, yoga, recipes, a cyber back rub, I'd be more than happy 🙂
dragonmamma/naomi
I can do 10 wicked wipers when I'm fresh, but no simultaneous smiling. No six-pack abs, either.
I prefer hanging leg raises and planks to sit-ups.
i haven't been able to crunch, do plank, or any move remotely involving my core for the past 2 weeks, since I stupidly slipped and fell in Vegas, bruising/possibly breaking my ribs. It stinks and I feel like my stomach is quickly morphing into the gut of a 55-year-old suburban dad. So any talk of crunches makes me sad and jealous 🙁 – Leslie at NeverSayDiet
Here's a woman who does wicked wipers (or windshield wipers).
http://youtube.com/watch?v=F2x5UxsC7ps
She can do a lot of pullups too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O4C64c84uI
Her website:
http://crystalwestfitness.com/index.html
Personally, I'm not a big fan of ab work. My workouts consist of mostly complex bodyweight exercises (pushups, pullups, squats, dips) with some dumbbell work thrown in. These complex exercises require the core to stabilize the body, so theoretically, I'm getting an ab workout with my normal training. Periodically, like maybe once a month, I might do some crunches or situps. And sometimes I might do a plank after doing some pushups.
Of course I'm not sure I can do wicked wipers (never tried, maybe I will today).
That said, there's no denying that strong abs matter, it's just a question of how one gets strong abs. I've seen evidence both ways – you can get them from traditional ab exercises or you can get them from complex, functional movements. Not sure which route is better. But I am sure you don't need special equipment to workout abs (sorry fitness industry).
Six-packs on women are overrated.
I like ab work…I think it's largely genetic/body fat as to how refined your abs can get. I mean I have pretty well defined abs and I don't do much in particular or crazy. I've friends who do way more and get less…much to their annoyance. And lots of people forget their backs and end up causing issues for themselves.
If you want defined abs try bellydancing. It really does it for ya…
I do my situps on an exercise ball an then use it to clutch and do lower ab situps too…no ulcer butt…or sore butt of any kind. Doing anything until you have an ulcer butt is not my idea of fun…
I run the gamut of ab exercises, basically because I get bored with doing the same ones all the time in class. I try to stress functional ab exercises with the members that come to my classes, though it doesn't always sink in. For instance, when I teach a full kickboxing class, they're always asking for abs at the end, and they don't seem to trust when I tell them that kickboxing is a killer ab workout (all the rotating as you punch).
When I'm doing abs on my own, I tend to do crunches on a ball. Usually because it's the end of my workout and I'm tired and lazy and don't want to do anything more complicated.
And seriously, I need to take issue with Brittney Spears. If she's able to do 1000 crunches in one day, she's not choosing an effective ab exercise! You can do abs effectively for 15 minutes (for 5 for that matter) and feel a massive burn…if you're doing the right exercise. If you're doing 1000, then you're probably wasting your time with a less impactful exercise.
Don't do ab work at all. But I found that all the running I did training for my marathon miraculously gave me somewhat defined abs, so I'm not all that sure ab work does all that much for you.
I believe that spot reduction is a myth. I do crunches right now because (a) I want to tone my core muscles, even if I can't necessarily see them, and (b) I'm doing the 200 sit-ups challenge for fun. Or, rather, for "fun". Right now I'm doing 200 crunches in 5 sets, 3 times per week, plus some bicycle crunches, reverse crunches, and plank for good measure.
However, I am well aware that in order for my abs to shine through, I have to lose fat all over my body. But strengthening the core is never a bad thing. If anything, it helps prevent back injuries.
OK, I'm just gonna say it: six-packs don't mean your core is strong! Those muscles are close to the surface, and to get really strong abs (and back) you need to work the deep, intrinsic muscles. The best exercises I've found are from Pilates and yoga. (A big reason I became a Pilates teacher is because of the results in strength I had once I started practicing.) And, yes, any exercise that forces you to involve those muscles, like kettlebells and kickboxing. OK, getting off the soapbox now!
(Leslie, are you OK? You poor thing!!!!)
That windshield wiper move is killer- I've seen a super ripped body builder at Gold's do that maneuver but I'd never even be able to get my feet up in the air.
Your friends must have no body fat on their butts if they are getting lesions!
I am of the belief like Jenn, that abs are built in the kitchen and the womb. Yes, I think it's important to get core work in, I do not think it's the be all and end all of getting a 6pack. I do think that abs are like any other muscle and will grow if you train them, so that's something to keep in mind.
I used to love working them and now not so much. Inexplicable. Just bored. I do stuff on the ball- sit ups/crunches, planks, pikes etc. One of the BEST moves I've ever done for obliques is with the trx- a side crunch while standing. Sore every.single.time.
This post made me laugh so hard! I'm in the camp that says – you need to lose the fat before you'll be able to see anything – but strengthen your core, yes!!!
Oh man, I want to hear more about what your buddies are doing with their bruised booties. I have the same problem whenever I do situps on an incline with a plate across my chest. It doesn't matter that it's padded, I swear my bone cuts right through. I've even bled and scabbed on my tail bone. I do lots of core work that doesn't have my backside on anything (captain's chair, plank work, standing stuff), but I still love a good inclined sit up and would like to figure out how to do it and not sit down like I have a ranging case of 'roids the next day.
i think what you eat matters more when it comes to abs…if you continue to eat crap and lots of fatty stuff, no amount of crunches is gonna matter.
I actually like doing ab stuff. For what it's worth, one of the best set of 6 pack abs I ever saw was on a woman at my fitness center! Ruthie Bolton-Holifield was her name. She was one outstanding fitness machine, and quite the nice person too!
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/0808/best.woman.athlete.by.birth.state/images/mississippi-ruthie-bolton.jpg
I do all kinds of ab stuff.. crunches all of kinds, Roman chair, planks, swiss ball, rope crunches & more.. and yes, I do alot on the floor too & never had that "prob" you wrote about & I am 25++ years into this.
We are all different & some people have better ab genes than others so I think ya have to keep working at it to find what works for you & change it up too.
I have seen a guy at the gym do that exercise!!!
I'm on team No-Crunches-Allowed. My trainer has me do a lot of core work, but rarely am I on my back. I'm actually starting to see that little pouch below the belly button slowly diminishing too!
I do no crunches and not b/c of wearing your tailbone raw. Too many doctors who know say that crunches actually weaken and damage your lower back, which is quite a bit more serious than a bed sore on your butt.
I think I'll try the Mariah Carey route! I hate crunches and can barely do 12 at a time I find it easier to do Pilates to tone the core area. When I was (much) younger, abs were not a problem. Now my weight has shifted (how in the heck does it do that?) and I find I need to work more in that ab area.
I don't know if this video is public or not, by my friend Walker actually does this ab workout on a regular basis.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=385109060843&ref=mf
It's intense, but he does have the ridiculously ripped abs to support it.