What Is The Purpose Of All Those Sit Ups? What Good Is A Sixpack Of Washboard Abs In A Physical Confrontation?

Does it really make a difference in a fight or would it be better to have some fat to absorb some of the impact of a body shot?

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16 Responses to “What Is The Purpose Of All Those Sit Ups? What Good Is A Sixpack Of Washboard Abs In A Physical Confrontation?”
  1. Blogbaba says:

    Its not about the appearance, its about conditioning to impact, gotten through lots of core training and impact training, especially taking shots in sparring.
    Some people genetically get very nice lookign abs as a side effect of the training, some people just end up with a hard wall of muscle.
    These of course are very handy in a fight. If you have ever been winded in the guts from a hit you will understand what I mean.
    Situps themselves are just part of the conditioning for impact.
    In other words a guy with a washboard set from doing 1000 situps a day does not necessarily have great protection from hits, if he has not conditioned them to being hit.
    However he will still have better protection than a guy with nothing.
    On the other hand a guy may certainly have a normal looking set of abs, or even a layer of fat on his guts- but be very conditioned to taking punches, if he has trained recently to take a lot of hits in sparring.
    The fat itself, or lack of, does not help or hinder hits, it is the muscle underneath being used to absorbing blows doing all the work.

  2. Mitch321 says:

    when i was in my best shape i did 500 roman sit-ups a day. . . (this was in high school . . plenty of time for that sort of stuff) don’t really know if it help my fighting . . . . but the girls really liked it :)

  3. chuck510 says:

    Why, use them to stun your assailant with their awesomeness!
    Nah. . .
    If you tighten your muscles, they form a much better shield of protection for your squishy organs. . . unlike squishy fat that allows for a solid fist to mix ‘em up a bit.
    . . . and it brings all the girls to yard.

  4. Alibi says:

    sit ups can help develop your abs but they wont get rid of the soft outer layer around them, this is to be sure. Rock hard abs may look great but they are not all that healthy to have. Americans are all about a “great looking body” but there are cultures that “have a little pudge” about the mid section, and claim it to be very healthy. Don’t know myself. I have a little pudge, it’s were I keep my heart. I have a little laundry covering my washboard. I’m in rather good shape for 40 and can keep up with the young’ns when I train with them.

  5. Zenshin Academy says:

    it develops abdominal muscles. ive tried it. punched someone with big abs and the punch bounced. in boxing, fighters often target the abs section because if hit often enough and hard enough the opponent wont last the entire fight.

  6. andy_des says:

    The only way to get washboard abs is to have under 1% body weight, you can have never trained abs at all and still have abs if you cut the weight down
    Ofcource it makes a diference how developed they are, the core is everything, its where all the power comes from, but the actualy LOOK of washboard abs comes from not having any fat on your body

  7. Big Foot says:

    If you don’t have good ab muscles you can’t punch very hard and you’ll have barely anything to brace your internal organs and ribs against body shots. Fat is not very dense and doesn’t give any more protection than a winter coat. What really makes you tough though is training with impacts to the abs so you won’t get stunned from the pain and you can start your breathing again immediately after being hit.

  8. R. Lee says:

    well hard abs are tougher than soft abs eh? cover your vital organs man. . .

  9. Dead says:

    being in good physical shape absolutely helps in a fight. It may also detour an attacker. A good solid midsection helps the body balance. If one has a fat belly endurance is not on his side. A real fight only takes 15 - 30sec. two real bad asses never meet in the street. most fat people fall over after an abdominal strike in pain or lack of breath.

  10. sandman says:

    Sit-ups generally won’t help you in a fight. They’re pretty much solely for vanity and sports that require good central mass stability.
    And punching fat is much more damaging than punching muscle. You can’t flex and protect your organs with fat.

  11. Patternf says:

    All of your strikes will be stronger and fat doesn’t absorb energy, it creates a “wave” or “ripple” effect which in turn can increase the power of the impact. It’s a lot better to have muscle than fat. . . unless you’re the Blob from X-Men. His fat is solid.

  12. Kuntawis says:

    Yes. Another way to train is take medicine ball shots to the ribs and solar plexes. Although no amount of training will put muscle in those areas, it gets you used to the feeling so you don’t immediately freak out when you get the wind knocked out of you. The worse feeling in the world is getting uppercutted underneath your ribs. If you have enough muscle on your stomach and such a direct shot to your abs really doesn’t hurt that bad. It’s best to keep your elbows closed in to protect the ribs. Mainly its too strengthen your core which is very important.

  13. Shootmei says:

    muscle is better in my opinion for a few reasons. muscle=more power even in the abs because they are core muscles. also strong abs can be tightened which will not hurt if punched or atleast hardly at all and can damage your opponents fist. know some guys who can tighten their abs and it feels like punching a cinder block. but the abs normally come naturally because of the rigorous training, good diet, etc. they don’t set out to get ripped. well some do probably

  14. Who knows says:

    a lot of your power for attacks comes from your core and the rotating of your abs/obliques sit ups strength these muscles allowing you endurance and the strength to use it. also strong midsection muscles help protect soft organs from damages from a blow
    fat isnt as dense as muscle(ever hear muscle weighs more than fat) so it offers better protection. what would you rather be protecting you a 1/2 inch of steel of 3inches of pillow

  15. Cnote says:

    I don’t know but I thought it was kinda funny when some guy wore him self out punching me in the stomech. because. i’m like thinking duh that doesn’t even hurt. so after about 20 punches. I kinda picked him up and shoved him out the back door. next time open the door. don’t waste the . $2. 98 on a new latch.
    I never said I was in any such thing as “great shape”. I never said that. I can
    “pinch an inch”. but thats about all. those and all muscles. are good for you. because why?. the more muscle you have. the more calories you burn. minute by minute. oops got off the question. answer. it depends if the guy knows where to hit you. you can do all the sit ups you want and your not going to get. muscles in your solar plexes. I kinda wandered about this.
    I have a lump there. i’m afraid its not muscle. every time I ask. , they tell me to go to the doctor. some on hits you there. Thats how they stop your heart. . Thats what the doctor in Karate class told me any way. .

  16. hifi1863 says:

    I like my chub around my middle, but also do many sit=ups every day. Muscle underneath. not a 6 pack.

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