the middle will be built, and the sides will show if your diet is OK...the side just wont pop out as much...it's not much of a big deal.

Your waist would get bigger.

no true at all...you waist will not get bigger...

Well, you can't spot reduce....those muscles would be built up, but I don't think it would be as effective as if you worked the sides (and lower back) as well!

I agree with V

Eddie - I'm confused - what floggingsully said is wrong ("your waist would get bigger," but what vicki said is right ("the muscles wuld be built up")?

I dont see a difference - built up muscles in the waist area would make a larger waist, no?

the question that was asked was....What would actually happen if you constantly worked your ABS, but paid no attention to the sides?

The reply was... Your waist would get bigger.

Your waist cannot get bigger if you are just working out the midsection of your abs....he says he's doing 3x's more crunches than he's working his obliques.  which mean he is working his sides...just not as much. (this is all concidering his diet is healthy)

since he's only working the center of his tummy, then the center alone will be built...and not the sides themselves .  it would be more effective to workout the center...the sides, and the lower back at once to get the total benefit.

If you work a muscle, it will grow.  If your constantly working your abs they will get bigger and hence increase the circumference of your waist.

...I've been working my abs for years, and have maintained either a 6 or 8 pack ...all my life....and they pop out because I lift with weights....I do the entire core...and my waist has NEVER gotten any bigger...it actually gets smaller with a good diet...it really depends on how much you eat, and how much protein you take in.  I know this for a fact.  your abs, and your waist are different.  I've seen many people who have a very chuncky stomach, with a small waist.  but you're not going to get a big waist because you work your abs...  I' must be missing something here.  I'm not going to discredit you though..you could be right.

I think you guys are saying the same thing, only differently, unless I'm misunderstanding.

eddie is assuming that in addition to working your abs, you are using diet to reduce body fat, so the overall effect is the shrinking of the waist, and what remains is very defined abs, which take up less space than the fat that used to be there (but the fat loss was from diet, not crunches)

sully is assuming that you are just working the abs, but not cutting down the amount of fat covering them - so now not only do you have fat on your waist, but you also have larger ab muscles, which make the fat stick out a little more.

maybe?

"Larger" ab muscles is a bit of an misnomer. The abdominus rectus and obliques, and the underlying muscles under those - are like sheets of muscle. They aren't like the bicep, which has a definition set of connection points and a cylindrical shape.

The abdominal muscles are kind of like a slinky, or an accordion. They are sheet-like in order to facilitate all of the interesting twists, shapes and contortions that we make at our core. The range of motion of the abdominal muscles is also very small in comparison to other muscle types and groups. Only a couple of inches, at most.

That being said, continuous resistance training of the abdominal muscles doesn't lead to explosive growth of those muscles. The become stronger (very important - since they are at your core), and leaner - but they don't become huge. Their size changes very little. The key contributor to waist size is fat, not muscle.

Stay safe -

Rb

I agree a little, but when I do ab workouts with weights for about 6 months...they do get bigger. 

Understood Eddie - but in relative terms. Which gets "bigger" over the course of those same 6 months? Your biceps, your quads, your calves....your abs? The structure of the abdominals limits their ability to increase in size - they will get bigger, but we're talking by quarters and halves of inches....

oh ok...I get you....yes, and that's why I specifically said 6 months...lol...because it takes that long to see a difference...whereas the biceps, you can see a difference in 1 to two weeks.  yeah you're correct. 

Original Post by eddiepotter:

I've seen many people who have a very chuncky stomach, with a small waist.  but you're not going to get a big waist because you work your abs...  I' must be missing something here.  I'm not going to discredit you though..you could be right.

This article explains my position better than I do, basically if you work your ab muscles they will grow, if your abs grow and everything else stays the same your waist will get bigger. 

Obliques aren't particularly big muscle group - you can tone it with side workouts.   It won't show anyway unless you cut your body fat to 10-14%. 

A lot of users on this site are girls, and excessive ab work can make the hourglass shape harder to achieve.  But this shouldn't be an issue for you since guys are supposed to have a rectangular midsection anyway :)

I would suggest bicycle crunches...  I've seen great results from those...