For home gym fans, the sit-up is usually the most basic exercise they know (apart from the push-up, or course). You lie down, put your hand behind your head, and start crunching, right? Well, not exactly.
If you’ve been doing sit-ups for a while now and haven’t been seeing the results you wanted, there’s a chance you might not be doing everything you could to maximize your results. Here’s a few tips on sit-ups that will help you get closer to your ab goals.
Tip #1: Forget the Sit-ups you know
Working out involves a lot of “unlearning” old habits. When your gym teacher in high school told you to put your hands behind your head and go as high up as you could, he was probably reading a workout manual from the 50’s, or earlier.
The truth is that those kinds of sit-ups can put more strain on your back and neck. If you enjoy the full motion of movement your spine currently provides you, I strongly advise against locking your hands behind your head and trying to meet your chin to your knees. Instead, keep your hands on the sides or in front of your head, and only go up roughly 6 inches from the ground
Tip #2: Suck it in
When you do a crunch, you’re trying to get all of your muscles to contract at the same time. That’s not always easy to do. So I found that if you suck in your gut when you bring yourself up, it works out more of your muscle, and gives you a deep burn in your abdominals.
Tip #3: Don’t work only the same muscles
Abs are a pretty complex group of muscles. Doing only one kind of crunch isn’t going to work everything out, and you’ll probably find yourself struggling to build consistent definition across your abs.
There are many types of abdominal workouts that target these different ab groups. Bicycle sit-ups, leg raises, and countless other types will help blast those areas you’ve been neglecting!
Tip #4: Focus on exercises that isolate specific muscles
If you want to include abdominal work three times a week, spread it out so that one day focuses on upper abdominals, another is lower abdominal, and the third is dedicated to your obliques. Not only does this provide a more concentrated focus on each muscle group, but it will also give your body the time it needs to recover and maximize growth in each area.
Last but not least, you’ll find the day after from a hard workout is less severe since your entire abdominal section isn’t ‘under construction’ at the same time.
Tip# 5: Keep your body guessing
You should never do a routine for more than 6-8 weeks. After that time, your body gets used to the stress you’re putting it under and you’ll start to see less improvement. So to avoid this pitfall, you need to mix things up. That means finding a new routine that keeps your body guessing
I like to have 3 different types of sit-up routines that I alternate every 2 months. That way, I don’t have to keep coming up with creative ways to work out, but still benefit from keeping my body properly challenged. In another blog post I’ll detail a number of different sit-ups you can use to keep things fresh.
Conclusion
Remember that abs are a core muscle group. If you don’t work them out right, it can affect the results of your other exercises. Whether you’re working for slight definition or that hard chiseled look, you need to make sure you’re spending a decent amount of time on your abs … and using some of these tips to get the most out of that work!
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