I do lots of crunches sit up and I cannot get a flat tummy. I had a trainer whom said to me that for the amount of abs I do my tummy should be completely flat.
Answer From Ray:
Its funny what trainers say sometimes. Tummy bulge can come from a lot of things. One is too much fat around the mid section. Crunches will not fix that. Only cardio and fast weight training will. Another thing it could be is tight hip flexors. This will pull your hips up in the rear causing your belly to stick out in the front. Another thing is that if you are using your hip flexors instead of your abs when doing crunches then nothing will happen to the abs. One hundred crunches will not change the shape of your abs the way a set of 15 hanging leg raises will.
You may want to throw some bridges or planks into your routine to get the deep muscle layers of the abdominal region as well.
There are a few things for you to check in on and see if you can get those abs to show and the tummy bulge to go away.
Here is a simple flat tummy abdominal workout.
Flat Tummy Exercise: Crunches:
These hit mostly the upper tummy. Place your hands behind (support, but don’t pull) your head and curl your upper torso forward, bringing your rib cage toward your pelvis until you feel a contraction in your abdominal muscles. Holding your hands down by your hips is an easier version. Pause for the contraction of the abdominal muscles and slowly return to the starting position. Exhale on the contraction – this breathing advice applies to all tummy exercises.
Flat Tummy Exercise: Reverse Crunch:
Lie face up on a flat bench with your hips and knees bent. Grasp the bench behind your head with both hands. Keeping the angles in your hips and knees fixed, contract your tummy muscles to pull your hips upward until your lower back is a few inches off the bench. Hold for a moment, then lower and repeat.
These exercises in an easy tummy workout would involve doing three sets of 20 reps for the abdominal crunches, with one minute of rest after each set. Soon as you are done with the abdominal crunches move on to the abdominal hip rolls for the same set and rep pattern.
As well you should throw in a set or two on the end of static bridges to really speed up progress to flattening out your tummy.
