to swear crunches/sit ups have opposite effect on me

[mumandmumber]

anyone else??

I’ve never had a very flat tummy (well not since being a teen) and I’m definitely more of an apple shape. Slim hips, straight middle.
Early 40’s now. Size 12/14. I’m quite fit, have been doing pretty consistent mix of cardio & resistance training/HIT/weights for the last 10 years. I have had 1 child, via ECS.
The only curves I have is my muffin top and mum tum.
I have come to the conclusion that crunches/sit ups and very AB focused exercises seem to just accentuate the thickness of my middle and my mum tum.
Lower body & my arms respond well to weights and resistance, but I think my torso is best left alone?
I’ve been told by a physio friend that I have a surprisingly strong core and no sign of ab separation.

Abs are made in the kitchen. You can work out as much as you want, especially in that area, but if you don't remove the layer of fat, you won't see anything.

If you have a muffin top, it 's down to excess calories, nothing to do with exercise. You can't target to lose weight in certain areas of course, but if you lose weight, you will also lose your thickness.

Women have a layer of fat to protect their mid-section, it's normal. Takes a lot more effort and restrictions for most women to lose it.

No, crunches and sit ups won't make you "bigger" there.

I completely agree and being someone passionate in nutrition and health I am aware of that line of thought and agree with it.
I eat 95% homemade non processed food and have ahugely varied diet and excellent gut health etc. (Confirmed via a test!).
I could definitely lose a few KG’s though, as I over eat a bit and like the odd drink. But even when I’ve been lighter, and even when I was aless ‘thick’ as a teen (yet still very straight and with love handles) I always found that AB work almost accentuates it. As if it makes the muscles pop out more..

That was more what I was getting at rather than how to alleviate my thickness.

I hate ab crunches, it is such a useless exercise.You lie on your back and curl your upper body up a bit. If you do quite a lot then you feel the tension in your lower back, so I think it is actually more of a lower back exercise. You can do literally hundreds and it will have no effect on your abs. I wonder why some PTs still favour them 🙄

I think it’s more useful for abs if you twist your torso. I used to have this class long years ago when we were in a lunge position, a medicine ball in hand, and had to turn and twist our torso to the left and right as far as we could with the our arms stretched out. We could also do it with a barbell or dumbells. It really made my stomach and torso burn after (and my legs and arms too!)

Yep this! I find a russian twist or oblique crunch way more effective

Planking can be better for abs as you sort of ‘suck’ the muscles up and in whereas with a sit up or crunch you are at risk of almost pushing them outwards.

It is mostly diet, yes

Its not a line of thought, its basic biology. Sucks to be a woman sometimes 😂

What you eat is pretty irrelevant (purely for this, not talking about long-term and overall health) You can be in calorie deficit on junk food and lose weight

and you can eat homemade non-processed food and have an excessive calorie intake and put on weight or at least stagnate.
There has been enough studies and experiment to confirm that.

Your muscles don't "swell", your mid-section can't be accentuated by working out.

I am not saying you need to lose weight btw, but abs and crunch won't accentuate your thickness.

Yes I agree, I think a lot of ab work, when you have belly fat on top still, can make your belly look more pronounced.

I have a very strong core and little waist from a lifetime of walking up hills. My abs show regardless when I'm at a low body fat percentage.

I do still do weighted sit ups, with a medicine ball, but it's only worth it when combined with the low body fat percentage.

You have to be careful with Russian twists as they can make you wider.

I have a C-section overhang to work against too…

You have to be careful with Russian twists as they can make you wider.

do you think so? Oh dear, I’ll stop doing those. They won’t be helping my nonexistent waist