Can You Get Abs From Doing Crunches Alone? An Expert Weighs In

Can you get abs from doing crunches alone?

Crunches are undoubtedly one of the most popular abs exercises.

They target the muscles in your abdominals, primarily the rectus abdominis and obliques.

It’s a beginner-friendly bodyweight exercise that can be added to any abs and core workout.

And best of all, you can do it anywhere, and it’s home friendly with no equipment needed.

No doubt. It’s a great workout for anyone looking to work their abs muscles.

But the question that’s been on your mind is if it can lead to washboard abs.

Can You Get Abs From Crunches?

Crunches effectively target and tone your abs muscles. But the exercise alone can’t flatten your stomach.

To get rid of your belly fat, you must focus on overall fat loss.

Crunches surely define your abs muscles and give you a sculpted tummy.

But your abs won’t show if you have too much belly fat covering them.

In short, fat loss needs to happen before you can flaunt your six-pack abs.

And unlike toning your abs or any other muscles, fat loss is systemic.

What it means is that it’s not sport-specific.

Rather, it happens to your whole body.

If you’ve heard personal trainers talk about spot training not being real, this is what they mean.

When you lose fat, you’ll lose fat from everywhere in your body, not just one area.

This means a well-rounded workout plan is needed to lose belly fat and get a toned stomach.

It needs to incorporate aerobic endurance, strength exercises, and abs exercises.

This in addition to a healthy diet, of course.

Lose Body Fat

The fastest path physiologically is to reduce stored fat from all over your body and increase lean muscle mass.

Crunches are helpful for the latter, to build lean muscles and get toned.

But they don’t burn calories and fat as much as other cardio exercises like running, spinning, and swimming does. So you need both.

Since crunches alone won’t take care of belly fat, they need to be supplemented.

But with that said, let me confirm that the crunches do build sculpted abs.

They build muscles in the abs and your overall trunk.

Because crunch exercises are strength exercises, they go muscle by muscle. They are muscle-specific and can be used to define one area.

This means once you melt off the layer of belly fat that sits on the exterior of your abs, you can reveal your set of hard-rock abs.

What’s more, working the abs with crunches also helps you build strength in the obliques and core.

It also extends to your whole trunk including the lower back. It improves your stability, flexibility, and posture.

A stronger core makes you less prone to back pain and injuries.

To create a workout plan to get a flat stomach, pair 20-minute cardio with strength workouts.

In your strength training, include crunches along with other abs and core exercises that sculpt your abdominals.

Aim twice a week to see the desired results.