From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Abdominal endurance training exercise
The
sit-up
(or
curl-up
) is an abdominal endurance training exercise to strengthen, tighten and tone the
abdominal muscles
. It is similar to a
crunch
(crunches target the
rectus abdominis
and also work the
external
and
internal obliques
), but sit-ups have a fuller range of motion and condition additional muscles.
Form
[
edit
]
Sit-ups begin with the practicing individual lying with their back on the floor, typically with the arms across the chest or hands behind the head and the knees and toes bent in an attempt to reduce stress on the back muscles and spine, and then elevating both the upper and lower
vertebrae
from the floor until everything superior to the
buttocks
is not touching the ground. Some argue that sit-ups can be dangerous due to high compressive lumbar load
[1]
and may be replaced with the
crunch
in exercise programs.
[2]
Performing alternative abdominal exercises to sit-ups actually increases the ability to do sit-ups.
[3]
Performing sit-ups do not cause the
spot reduction
of fat at the waist.
[4]
Gaining a "
six pack
" requires both abdominal
muscle hypertrophy
training and fat loss over the abdomen?which can only be done by losing fat from the body as a whole.
[
citation needed
]
Variations
[
edit
]
The movement can be made easier by placing the arms further down away from the head. Typical variations to this include crossing the arms to place the palms on the front of the shoulders
[5]
and extending the arms down to the sides with palms on the floor.
[6]
The 'arms on shoulders' variation is also used to make the incline sit-up
[7]
easier.
More intense movement is achieved by doing weighted sit-ups,
[8]
incline sit-ups with arms behind neck
[9]
and even harder by doing the weighted incline sit-up.
[10]
Health risks
[
edit
]
With improper form, full sit-ups have been found to cause back pain and arching of the lower back, increasing the risk of
back injury
.
[11]
Since the 2010s, every branch of the U.S. armed forces have begun to phase out sit-ups, due to the high rates of lower-back injury.
[12]
See also
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Sit-ups
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
McGill, Stuart M. (June 1999).
"Stability: from biomechanical concept to chiropractic practice"
.
Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association
.
43
(2): 75?88.
PMC
2485366
.
- ^
McGill, Stuart (2002).
Low Back Disorders: Evidence-based Prevention and Rehabilitation
. Human Kinetics Publishers.
ISBN
978-0-7360-6692-1
.
[
page needed
]
- ^
Childs, John D.; Teyhen, Deydre S.; Benedict, Timothy M.; Morris, Jamie B.; Fortenberry, Andrew D.; McQueen, Rene M.; Preston, Janice B.; Wright, Alison C.; Dugan, Jessica L.; George, Steven Z. (2009).
"Effects of Sit-up Training versus Core Stabilization Exercises on Sit-up Performance"
.
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
.
41
(11): 2072?2083.
doi
:
10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181a84db2
.
PMID
19812508
.
- ^
Katch, Frank I.; Clarkson, P. M.; Kroll, W.; McBride, T.; Wilcox, A. (September 1984).
"Effects of sit up exercise training on adipose cell size and adiposity"
.
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport
.
55
(3): 242?47.
doi
:
10.1080/02701367.1984.10609359
.
- ^
"Sit-up (arms crossed)"
. Retrieved
20 November
2014
.
- ^
"Sit-up (arms down)"
. Retrieved
20 November
2014
.
- ^
"Incline Sit-up (arms crossed)(2qqa)"
. Retrieved
20 November
2014
.
- ^
"Weighted Sit-up"
. Retrieved
20 November
2014
.
- ^
"Incline Sit-up"
. Retrieved
20 November
2014
.
- ^
"Weighted Incline Sit-up (arms crossed)"
. Retrieved
20 November
2014
.
- ^
Abdominal Training
- ^
Mull, Amanda (28 May 2022).
"The Sit-Up is over"
.
The Atlantic
. Retrieved
31 May
2022
.