Quitting Sit-ups... should I?

mauryr
mauryr Posts: 385
edited September 28 in Fitness and Exercise
Hiya.

I added a small amount of strength training to my regimen a month or so ago (maybe two months now). I do pull-ups, push ups, sit-ups, hammer curls and bent-over-rows. I use an android app that is based on the 100 sit-ups site to track all of the exercises (if you're curious, the app is called "multi-reps", and there's an iphone version, as well- it's not a perfect app, but it's pretty good... it can track several exercises, and slowly increases reps and sets to move you towards your stated goal).

With the guidance of the app, I was doing a total of about 300 sit ups, in about 7 sets of various reps. 3x per week... While I'm getting good results (got a bit of a "4 pack" starting to emerge, if you squint, and the light is just right - ha ha) I have been noticing that it's really uncomfortable, and time consuming. For this reason, sit-ups are making me kinda dread working out, and it's killing my motivation.

After reading about other abs exercises on-line, many have suggested that the "captain's chair" is a better exercise for the abs, as are "planks". I started adding the captain's char to my routine at the gym, and I noticed that it elicited a pretty good burn on the lower abs, and I was pretty darn sore the next day, which I suppose is a good sign.

Still, the stuff on-line is pretty mixed on sit-ups, and crunches... some sites say that they are "bad" to do, 'cause it will injure your back eventually, and others say the opposite.... so, I submit this to all of you nice people here at MFP, for your input.

What do you think?

-Maury

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