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 "never do sit ups during an ab workout" mantra that is chanted throughout gyms across the world actually started in the lab. EMG studies have shown that sit ups do stress the spine more so than crunches do. So what? Lying on a bed of cotton balls stresses the spine less than crunches! Does this mean that lying on cotton balls is better than crunches? Where do we draw the line here? Remember, every exercise is a form of stress on the body. It is that very stress that causes our body to adapt, change, get stronger and thus get a positive training effect.
Let's investigate the sit up a little further. The reason why the critics say sit-ups stress the spine more than crunches is because of the involvement of the hip flexors during sit ups. They state that this hip flexor activation leads to a compressive force in the spine, and therefore, should be avoided. Is this a gross overreaction, or do they have a point?
Taking into account that sit-ups have been performed by professional athletes and fitness buffs for decades without problems, it is clear there is no need to "press the panic button" when someone cranks out a few sit-ups. To further put your mind at ease, I can assure you that after 16 years as a fitness expert, I have never seen someone get hurt while doing a sit up variation.
I know that some trainers are saying, "Alright, you convinced me that sit ups are not as dangerous as the "experts" claim, but since the crunch works the abs just as well as the sit up, why should I do sit ups, anyway?" Let me explain why this is not the correct way of thinking.
It is a fact that your abs only produces movement during the bottom of a sit-up. Once your spine is flexed and you're in the top portion of a crunch, your hip flexors are activated. From this point on, the hip flexors are what finishes the exercise. Although the abs don't produce movement in the top range, they are still working like crazy. This must not be overlooked. The abs continue to contract isometrically (contracting to maintain a joint angle, not move it). This isometric contraction increases the work the abs does, thus leading to a positive response.
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.
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