This
is a sit-up movement that works
the abs instead of the hip flexors.
It will work all the muscles in
your midsection in one exercise.
The standard Crunch
only addresses part of the function
of the abdominals. This exercise
targets the flexed (arched back)
range of motion of the abs.
How To Do Abdominal Sit-Ups:
- Lie
on your back on the
floor. Roll up a towel
or mat and slip it underneath
your lower back, just
above the waistband
(the size of the towel
affects your body position
during this movement
- use a fairly large
towel).
- Your
knees should be bent
about 90 degrees. Keep
your feet close together
and knees wide apart.
This prevents the hip
flexors from having
a direct line of pull,
helping to minimize
their involvement.
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- Do
not anchor your feet or have
someone hold them down. This
automatically activates the
hip flexors. You will get
the most out of this exercise
by minimizing their involvement.
- The
difficulty of this exercise
depends on where you hold
your hands. The hardest position
is above your head at arms-length,
then beside your head, then
across your chest, then straight
down between your legs or
at your sides. Start with
the easiest first then progress
to the other positions as
you get stronger.
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You
are now ready to begin.
- Keeping
your torso straight
and stiff, start the
sit-up by tightening
your lower abs.
- As
you continue up, imagine
trying to push your
face up against the
ceiling (think up, not
around).
- When
you reach about 25 to
30 degrees above horizontal,
hold for a second and
squeeze hard.
- Keep
your back in contact
with the towel at all
times and always maintain
tension in the abs.
- Lower
yourself down slowly
and under control. Do
not just drop back to
the ground. The negative
portion of the sit-up
is extremely effective..
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Tricks
for Performing the Abdominal Sit-Up:
1.
Hand position drop set
When
you get stronger at these, start
with your hands over your head.
When you fail with that, continue
with your hands beside your head.
Then continue with hands across
the chest, then hands at your
sides or between your legs to
finish. It is a merciless drop
set.
2.
Working the sides
To
work the sides more during this
movement, come up to 25 degrees
then do a twisting crunch over
to the side. Don't do it on the
way up, just after you are up
to about 25 degrees.
3.
Breathe at the top
Try
holding the contraction at the
top and breathing in and out a
few times. This will really force
your abs to contract.
Common
Errors in the Abdominal Sit-Up
Exercise:
1.
Using momentum
Do
not swing yourself up to get started.
Always squeeze yourself up using
ab power. Start with the easiest
positions first, i.e. arms down
at your sides, or try these on
a slant board (with your head
higher) if you have trouble doing
this exercise.
2.
Losing tension at the top
This
occurs when you come too far up.
Always maintain contact with the
towel and keep tension in your
abs.
3.
Allowing the glutes to come
off the ground
Keep
the glutes on the ground at all
times. The tendency for the glutes
to come up occurs at the start
of the rep when your abs are first
trying to get your body off the
ground and your back is pivoting
over the towel. It is easier to
lift your glutes up at that point
in order to do the exercise.
4.
Coming up too far
This
error actually takes the tension
off the abs at the point where
they should be getting the most
tension. Keep your lower back
in contact with the towel throughout
the exercise.
5.
Improper towel placement
The
towel should be just above the
waistband area in the small of
the back. Placing it too high
or too low will affect the exercise
negatively.
Variations
of the Abdominal Sit-Up Exercise:
1.
Lower abdominal raises
This
variation of the Ab Sit-up exercise
targets the lower abs.
- Start
in the exact same body and
towel position as the regular
version.
- Place
your hands beside the towel
or beside your glutes.
- Now
instead of lifting your torso
up over the towel, raise your
legs and pelvis up and over.
- Keep
your feet together and your
knees apart to minimize hip
flexor recruitment.
- Suck
in your gut to help isolate
the lower abs.
- Your
butt should come right up
off the floor when your pelvis
rolls up and over the towel.
- When
you suck up your gut, imagine
you are trying to suck your
legs up to your chest through
vacuum power alone, then rolling
your pelvis over the towel.
- You
can alternate between the
sit-up style and leg raise
style to hit your abs from
both directions in one set.
2.
Incline abdominal sit-ups
This
is a good starting variation of
the abdominal sit-up.
- Set
an incline board to a slight
incline. If you don't have
an incline board, your can
use an adjustable incline
bench, a decline bench, a
Step platform with a riser
under one of the ends or a
flat bench with something
under one end.
- The
execution is exactly the same.
The only difference is that
the tension is much less due
to the leverage, allowing
even people who are relatively
weak in the abs to do the
exercise.
-
It is also a very good way
for advanced trainers to do
high reps with this exercise.
