Overweight issues

[Pachyderm]

Snappypix - Thanks for the welcome and the advice. I think you are right about my position. I am too stretched out. I can't do too much about my saddle adjustment because that then affects my knees (sometimes I feel like I am falling apart!), but I am going to look into getting a stem riser or something to bring the handlebars closer. You are also absolutely right about the walking. I also have terrible posture so I will have a go at pulling in my abs when I walk. One of my problems is that I am terribly lazy, and I just can't get myself to do formal exercise like join a gym or do ab-crunches every day. That is why I love cycling, it doesn't really feel like exercise when you can be out in beautiful countryside and exploring new places at the same time

Plantluvver - I think you are right about having lots of bikes. I currently only have a Trek 1000 racing / road bike, which is great fun to ride. I ride it faster and for longer than I rode my previous heavy lump of a bike that had appaling handling. However, I also use it for commuting to work, and for that I have a rack and use panniers to carry my work and change of clothes. When i get to work, I dump the panniers in reception and cycle the bike round the back of the building to leave it in a warehouse, and the difference between the loaded bike and the unloaded bike is just phenomenal. It is almost a crime to put extra weight on this bike!

When I can afford it, my dream is to splash out on a custom built Roberts touring bike. They cost a fortune, but I long to explore the world by bike, and my racer is just not up to it. Then I will get a hybrid to commute to work, and have a go at mountain biking, and if I enjoy that, I'll get one of those as well!

[KnottedYet]

"do ab-crunches every day"

Crunches don't work so well, they strengthen the wrong muscles for stability. You are far better off holding your lower abs (the ones from belly button to pubic bone) flat all the time. Walking, sitting, standing, biking, ALL THE TIME FOR EVER AND EVER!! Oh, yeah, and if you can't breathe and hold 'em flat at the same time the cruncher-muscles have jumped into the game and taken over from the stabilizers.

[mimitabby]

"do ab-crunches every day"

Crunches don't work so well, they strengthen the wrong muscles for stability. You are far better off holding your lower abs (the ones from belly button to pubic bone) flat all the time. Walking, sitting, standing, biking, ALL THE TIME FOR EVER AND EVER!! Oh, yeah, and if you can't breathe and hold 'em flat at the same time the cruncher-muscles have jumped into the game and taken over from the stabilizers.

hey Knottedyet
we had the health and fitness people come out to talk to us about crunches at my office.
they said #1 no amount of muscle exercises is going to make your abdomen flat you have to burn more calories too.

then they said that crunches were really good because they build up the muscles UNDERNEATH those abs that we are all glaring at in the mirror.
These muscles, and forgive me i've forgotten their names (Core is what they called them) ARE indeed what improves your posture, and relieves back pain.
They are very important and totally overlooked because you can't really see them. SO get down and do your crunches.

mimi

[KnottedYet]

Nope. I ain't crunching. Cuz I wanna strengthen the muscles underneath, which are the transversus abdominus and the aponeurosis which it attaches to. It doesn't cross any joints, so all it does is tighten the aponeruosis (supporting your back and aligning lumbar spine to pelvis) and flatten your stomach. It also cues in the multifidi (along the spine) and the pelvic muscles which help stabilize to a lesser extent.

The "six pack" is rectus abdominus. That's the muscle that bends you forward into a crunch. That one isn't going to help your back, and in fact patients who only do crunches end up with pretty hefty back problems because rectus overwhelms the "core" muscles. If you think about it, walking around hunched forward (overdeveloped rectus) will give you quite a backache!

Obliques have two functions: they bend you forward and twist you, and they can also help transversus during extreme effort by locking down the entire abdomen. (think side planks) Again, you don't want to walk around all the time bent forward and/or twisted to one side, and if you lock down the abdomen all the time you won't be able to breathe deeply.

If you absolutely feel you MUST crunch, please do diagonal crunches. Better to do planks (prone and side) if you want stability, because then you are training your obliques to stabilize.

If your lower abs aren't strong enough to hold your belly flat, no amount of weight loss is gonna give you a flat gut. I've seen plenty of patients with almost no fat who pooched out because they lacked muscle tone. I even worked with a patient who'd had a tummy tuck, but looked quite fat because her muscles were on a slack all the time.

That one was a real challenge! Her skin was tight enough from the tummy tuck that she felt like she was holding it "in". Teaching her was difficult because the usual cues I use for folks just didn't work. (I eventually had to use a weighted ball and a lot of ingenuity!)

[mimitabby]

Nope. I ain't crunching. Cuz I wanna strengthen the muscles underneath, which are the transversus abdominus and the aponeurosis which it attaches to. It doesn't cross any joints, so all it does is tighten the aponeruosis (supporting your back and aligning lumbar spine to pelvis) and flatten your stomach. It also cues in the multifidi (along the spine) and the pelvic muscles which help stabilize to a lesser extent.

The "six pack" is rectus abdominus. That's the muscle that bends you forward into a crunch. That one isn't going to help your back, and in fact patients who only do crunches end up with pretty hefty back problems because rectus overwhelms the "core" muscles. If you think about it, walking around hunched forward (overdeveloped rectus) will give you quite a backache!

Obliques have two functions: they bend you forward and twist you, and they can also help transversus during extreme effort by locking down the entire abdomen. (think side planks) Again, you don't want to walk around all the time bent forward and/or twisted to one side, and if you lock down the abdomen all the time you won't be able to breathe deeply.

If you absolutely feel you MUST crunch, please do diagonal crunches. Better to do planks (prone and side) if you want stability, because then you are training your obliques to stabilize.

If your lower abs aren't strong enough to hold your belly flat, no amount of weight loss is gonna give you a flat gut. I've seen plenty of patients with almost no fat who pooched out because they lacked muscle tone. I even worked with a patient who'd had a tummy tuck, but looked quite fat because her muscles were on a slack all the time.

That one was a real challenge! Her skin was tight enough from the tummy tuck that she felt like she was holding it "in". Teaching her was difficult because the usual cues I use for folks just didn't work. (I eventually had to use a weighted ball and a lot of ingenuity!)

yes, yes, diagonal crunches that's what they told us to do. You definitely know the terminology. THANK YOU! and thanks for the suggestions for planks. i'll do those too.

[KnottedYet]

If you hold your lower belly (navel to pubic bone) flat as you diagonal crunch, you will be teaching trans abd and obliques to work together.

You'd still be training your muscles to fold you in half (not something we do much in the real world) but at least they'd be working together.

Planks and other ab-intensive exercises that are done while holding your spine in neutral win the gold medal in my view. After all, we want to train the muscles to stabilize us, not fold us in half.

Ok, everyone, plank time!

[Pachyderm]

Knottedyet,

Thanks for the reply, but I'm being very dim, and don't quite understand what you mean by "planks". Could you explain a bit more?

Also, since you seem to be in the know, when I occasionally do ab-crunches or diagonal ones, how can I stop the front of my neck from hurting?

Do you also know anything about hip pain when walking? I think that my hips are hurting because I have a pretty strong dog who is constantly pulling on the lead (and all this even after dog-training), and I am using my hips to resist him. Before I take the dogs for a walk I have little-to-no pain, but once I start walking with them, the pain starts, and then continues even once I have let him off the lead. Any thoughts?

Sorry for the list of questions