Quote:
Originally Posted by Rapta
My abs don't tire out nearly as quickly as my arms do, that's why so many repetitions. By the time I make it to 200 I don't really feel any burn so I keep going until I do (which is around 300) but after 40 pushups my arms burn. When I do sets it takes double the time before I feel any burn. Should I start doing smaller sets or does it not matter considering how many it takes until I feel a burn?
gonna research how to make sit ups harder now ._.
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My only explanation here is that you're doing them wrong.
200 reps in a single set?
This sounds oddly familiar to a girl I know that once told me she also did 300 situps. I was like, lol, no. Anyway, she gets down to show me how she does them and I almost spit up my drink.
Rep quality matters infinitely more than rep quantity when dealing with body weight movements. You want to fully contract and engage your abdominals and minimize the usage of things like your back, your legs, momentum, etc.
Focus on doing crunches instead of situps for a bit so you can get the feel for what it should be like. Honestly, your abs should start knotting up after 10-20 repetitions if you're engaging them properly and fully. You want to squeeeeeze the abs. Put your hand on your stomach as you crunch and feel the muscle get harder, keep squeezing until it contracts fully and you can't squeeze them any harder. Try to get used to that feeling, let your mind connect with the contraction of the muscle. Slowly relax and then squeeze as hard as you can.
From my experience, many people will back off during a squeeze and stop short of where they should be contracting, because 'it hurts' etc. But that's the point. It should hurt and if you're contracting fully it should feel extremely difficult to complete the movement.
If you're doing it properly these should start to burn pretty quickly. That's what you want. Simply doing more repetitions isn't going to get you anywhere.