Sit-ups
For years now, sit ups have gotten a bad rap by many fitness "experts" who
tout that sit ups are damaging to your spine. Where did this strong opinion
come from? The way the sit up has been ostracized by the fitness community, you
would suspect that hundreds of thousands of six pack abs seekers have destroyed
their backs while performing this "dangerous" exercise! Fortunately, that's not
the case, not even close.
The "sit-ups are unsafe" chant that can be heard echoing throughout fitness centers all over the world was actually born in the lab. Studies have found that sit-ups stress the spine more than the crunch does. And? Taking a nap will stress the spine even less than crunched do. Is napping a better ab exercise than crunches? You can see how the stress argument is seriously flawed. Every exercise that you perform creates some stress on the body. It is that stress that encourages our body to adapt and get stronger. This is the very nature of exercise.
Now, let's take a second to investigate the sit-up. The main reason why sit-ups add stress to the spine is because of the contribution of the hip flexors during the movement. The critics assert that this hip flexor involvement causes compressive forces in the spine which is why sit-ups should be completely avoided. Do they have a point, or are they overreacting?
Create the Ultimate Abs
The fact of the matter is, athletes and fitness trainees have been safely incorporating sit-ups and their variations for years now. This alone should make it obvious that the "sit-up alarm" may be ringing for no apparent reason. The truth is, I have never witnessed one spine get damaged at the hand of a set of sit-ups. You would suspect that after 16 plus years as a fitness professional I would have at least seen one sit-up related injury if they were so harmful.
I still hear many trainers say to me, "Ok, I'm convinced that sit-ups are not so dangerous now, but since crunches work the abs just as well, why even bother with sit-ups? Let's see why they feel this way and why they can miss out on some advantages of sit-up variations.
The truth is that the abs are only responsible for the beginning portion of the movement during a sit-up. Once you are in the finished "crunch" position, the hip flexors take over to finish the top portion of the sit-up. It should be noted that although the hip flexors provide the movement in the top range, the abs are still contracting hard. This contraction prevents your back from arching and contributes to the overall ab workout.
An additional benefit of the sit-up is that it burns more calories than does the crunch. This is because the sit-up works through a greater range of motion and involves more muscle groups. It's no secret that in order to get six pack abs you must lose your layer of belly fat. The sit-up increases your heart rate and burns more calories than crunching movements making this a very desirable "side effect".
Although the sit up is not the most effective ab exercise, I do prescribe sit up variations on occasion to any client who I feel they are appropriate for. I do believe that you should have a foundation of abdominal strength and no chronic back problems. If you fit the criteria and use proper form, you will have no problems with this exercise
