Ask Rocco: Stop Doing Crunches!
Q: Since I run on a regular basis, I am thin and in basically decent shape. But after having four children, my stomach looks somewhat distended. Doing crunches three days a week has not helped and I am wondering if you could please advise me on what would work. I really do not want to lose any more weight, but I definitely want my stomach to be flatter. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Kaitlin, Clifton
A: Stop doing crunches! For the life of me, I dont know why people keep doing something that isnt giving them the results they want. Isnt that the definition of insanity?
Stop doing something over and over again and expecting different results. If its not doing what you want, realize it, own it and move on. The reason why your stomach as you call it, isnt getting flat is because youre helping it to get bigger by doing an exercise designed to build muscle in your abdominal region.
So, reality would speak to not doing that exercise. Anything that folds your body in half or twists your body will build muscle in order to perform that exercise better in the future. Thats just the way the body works.
To keep your stomach flat you need to do compression exercises very similar to the ones done in most Yoga and Pilates mat classes. There are many quality places that teach both, so look one up that is close to your work or home. For the record I like Pendleton Pilates but there may be one you like better.
