Because of the myriad confusing equipment advertisements and commercials, it’s difficult to decipher what type of exercise activities will help you reach your weight-loss goals. Understanding why weight loss occurs will help you make choices about which exercise activity you should participate in. Crunches do offer health and training benefits, but they will not cause you to lose weight.
Losing Weight
Decreasing your body fat and thus losing weight is a result of creating a caloric deficit, which means you consume fewer calories than you burn over a set period of time. When you do this, your body is forced to break down the fat you have stored on your body to use as fuel. Therefore, a successful weight-loss program consists of high calorie burning exercise and a healthy dietary plan. According to MayoClinic.com, every 3,500 caloric deficit you create equals about a pound of fat loss.
Crunches
According to ExRx.net, crunches are a strength-training exercise that develops your rectus abdominis muscle. The rectus abdominis muscle is located at the front of your torso. As you consistently participate in crunch workouts, your rectus abdominis becomes stronger and can increase in size. Those looking to develop toned abdominal muscles or achieve a six-pack are interested in developing their rectus abdominis and thus participate in abdominal exercises like crunches.
Fat versus Muscle
It’s important to understand that your fat tissue is completely independent of your fat tissue. Consistently completing crunches will effectively develop your abdominal muscles, but it will make no direct impact on your fat tissue. According to the American Council on Exercise, it is not possible to spot reduce your fat by participating in strength training. Instead, exercise efforts need to be placed toward those activities that are effective at burning a relatively high number of calories.
Exercise for Weight Loss
Cardiovascular activities such as running, biking and swimming are effective at burning calories. According to MayoClinic.com, in 60 minutes a 160-pound person will burn about 584 calories jogging at 5 mph, 913 calories roller skating and 730 calories jumping rope. However, she will only burn about 219 calories in 60 minutes when performing strength-training activities like crunches. Crunches are not effective at creating a caloric deficit and thus are not effective at supporting your weight-loss goals.
Member Comments