I know this question has probably been asked a million times over, but before I start killing myself by doing "old school" lay on the floor/run of the mill sit-ups. Do they actually give your mid section shape? I need to loose my gut and if I can do them morning and night, I'm in. What do you guys think?

Diet.

Losing your gut is a function of diet.

You can't spot train - meaning if you work one part of your body you won't specifically see changes there. To lose your gut you have no choice but going for a full body approach: diet, and preferably full body workouts. As a male the stomach is the first place your body stores fat, and the last place it wants to lose it.

Forget sit ups they don't burn fat. You can train your muscles all you want but you wont see them under a layer of stomach fat. To get that good looking midsection you will first need to lose belly fat.

In not possible to spot reduce fat in just one part of your body, like your belly. In order to lose belly fat you will need to lose the fat all over your body.

In short you may need to start:

1) Eating healthier, this means:

Eat smaller meals
Eat more meals a day
Don’t starve yourself
Eat more vegetables and fruit
Drinks more water
Less sugars and empty calories (less soft drinks, cakes, cookies)
Switch to whole wheat versions of your bread and pasta, brown rice instead of white rice

2) Exercising:

Prefer HIIT and full body exercises they burn the most calories and increase you metabolism for a few hours after your workout.
Get a training partner or a fitness trainer, a very worthwhile investment

Try also to reduce stress and get enough sleep. Both of these are related to weight gain and emotional eating.

you can do sit ups till the cows come home and you'll still be looking like a cow. You have to get the fat off and then some year, you might see an ab muscle. otherwise, they are there. They are holding your mid section together but you have to strap on some weights to loose the weight and then, you'll enjoy doing ab work. They say these things because they know you're looking for a fast fix. There is not one. Not one machine or exercise that is going to give you the air brushed bodies they claim.

Raul, Take it from ME; sit-ups ARE for real; AND; DO work! I've been doing sit-ups RELIGOUSLY each night(adding more reps each night!) I'm now up to 400 reps! This; combined with an hour of cardio (and weight lifting!) comprises my nightly workout(s)! I've been doing this same routine for a number of years! I feel that this "qualifies" me in saying that; "sit-ups DO work!" Todd Friedman

Do they work?

Yes, they'll build your ab muscles. Personally I think right on the floor is a bit too easy. I believe in stuff more like sit ups on a decline bench w/ weights or hanging leg lifts.

However, no amount of them will make your abs pop unless your body fat is low enough. Additionally, there are a number of compound exercises that get your abs if you're doing a good full body workout

sit ups are useless all they do is teach your body to move in that motion when will u ever do that motion in real day to day activities. Abs are stabilizers and if u keep working on them all the time and not your back u r gonna have back injuries. Yes you feel it in the abs but just like every other muscle they need rest as well so work on them every other day. You need stabilizer exercises such as the plank and other variations of the plank. There are some exercises to do with a bosu ball and they do amazing things. And the key to all is diet

I belive sit-ups do work,in combination w/ diet & other forms of ab work crunches etc to get the full effect!sweat!!!!