Are Resistance Sit-Ups Good for Losing a Gut?

The resistance situp will build strength and tone in your abs, but it’s not an effective exercise for helping you lose excess fat. Incorporating the resistance situp into your workout routine is still beneficial, but to lose your gut, you’ll need to also make adjustments to your nutritional habits and participate in a consistent workout program.

  1. Resistance Situp

    • The resistance situp is similar to the traditional situp, but it involves holding a weighted implement such as a medicine ball or a dumbbell. The traditional situp forces you to lift the weight of your upper body off the floor and by holding the weight, you increase the total load the core has to handle. To perform the resistance situp, lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold the weight at your chest. Lift your torso off the floor until your forearms make contact with your thighs and then lower your shoulders back to the floor. If you have a partner, they can hold your feet to the floor.

    Benefits

    • Resistance situps are effective at developing strength and tone in your rectus abdominis, which is the major muscle in your abs, as well as a collection of hip flexors. The rectus abdominis runs down the front of your torso and it’s the muscle that offers the six-pack appearance when developed. Incorporating additional resistance allows those who already have a base level of ab strength to continue to challenge themselves.

    Spot Reducing at the Gut

    • According to the American Council on Exercise, although abdominal strengthening exercises like resistance situps can help build muscular tone your stomach, they do not make an impact on any fat that you have in your gut. Muscle tissue is completely independent of fat tissue and the muscular definition that you develop will go unseen if you have excess fat in the gut.

    Losing Fat

    • While it’s not possible to specifically lose fat at the gut, you can see improvements by make efforts to lower your overall body fat. When your body composition decreases, you’ll see fat loss all throughout the body. To lose a pound of fat, you’ve got to burn 3,500 more calories than you consume. Therefore, in addition to any abdominal strength exercises you do, you’ll want to complete regular bouts of cardiovascular exercise to increase the calories you burn. Lower the calories you consume by limiting high-calorie meals, cutting portion sizes and making healthy eating and drinking decisions.