Sit ups...

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KellyUK1987
KellyUK1987 Posts: 75
in Fitness and Exercise
I need some advice regarding doing sit ups.

I've tried doing them today, and I can't even manage one. I just can not get my body in to the upright position, from laying down with legs bent.

Does it help if I were to lock my feet on to something solid, to help pull me up, or is that 'cheating' a little?

I used to have one of those Ab Rollers, which helped and I could do 20 without it hurting, 25 is where it started to hurt, so I would make sure I did 50 - would this be less beneficial, than doing it flat out with no aids?

I am trying to lose weight, as well as tone up my stomach.
(I do other exercise such as swimming and jogging on the spot, and will be going out for a jog on Monday to start that, so this isn't the only exercise i'm doing.)

Replies

  • skinnyfithealthyme
    skinnyfithealthyme Posts: 213
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    Can you do crunches? You don't come all the way up with those just until you feel it working your stomach. Otherwise I suggest trying a bunch of different ab exercises and seeing which ones work for you. I personally never do sit-ups, and if I do I do them very very slowly.

    Here are some others you could try

    tumblr_m7hp3c2YfN1rwyrh5o1_500.jpg
  • nickhuffman74
    nickhuffman74 Posts: 198 Member
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    I need some advice regarding doing sit ups.

    I've tried doing them today, and I can't even manage one. I just can not get my body in to the upright position, from laying down with legs bent.

    Does it help if I were to lock my feet on to something solid, to help pull me up, or is that 'cheating' a little?

    I used to have one of those Ab Rollers, which helped and I could do 20 without it hurting, 25 is where it started to hurt, so I would make sure I did 50 - would this be less beneficial, than doing it flat out with no aids?

    I am trying to lose weight, as well as tone up my stomach.
    (I do other exercise such as swimming and jogging on the spot, and will be going out for a jog on Monday to start that, so this isn't the only exercise i'm doing.)

    Yes that is ok.
  • Tilran
    Tilran Posts: 626 Member
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    If you cannot do a sit-up, do what you can until your abs get conditioned to those movements. If you need to lock your feet under a couch (which brings your hamstrings/quads into the mix) then do it, just make sure when you start building some strength there, you abandon the couch. You could do crunches where you bring your shoulders completly off the ground then back down, those will help build muscle in your top abs and give you enough strength after a while to complete a full sit up which will work your full abs.

    Let me throw you a different question. Why are you doing the situps? Flat stomach? Weight loss or gaining strength in your abs?

    I can tell you that alot of people think that sit-ups = smaller/flatter stomach and that is not really true. Sure it helps, sure it defines your stomach, but abs are made in the kitchen. A health diet will do x10 more for your stomach then crunches or situps will. Once you start flattening the stomach, then do situps and crunches to give definition to them.


    My 2 cents.
  • _beautiful_disaster_
    _beautiful_disaster_ Posts: 182
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    bump
  • KellyUK1987
    KellyUK1987 Posts: 75
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    I want to do sit ups so that I can build my muscles up whilst I'm also losing weight.

    I am hoping that once I've lost the weight, I'll be able to do sit ups properly, and therefore do more so that I can tone and define them.
  • ahmommy
    ahmommy Posts: 316 Member
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    I don't think full sit ups are good for your back, and when I did a lot of them I actually rubbed skin off of my tailbone (ouch!).

    Do crunches and focus on good form. Make sure to do a variety - straight crunches, side crunches, reverse crunches, and bicycle crunches. You can also do plank poses to develop your entire core.

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