Back pain while doing sit ups??

geminilady

Hey!
When i do sit ups on my mat my back gets really sore. Am i doing it wrong?
Thanks

Shrimp

Are you keeping your back straight? also, are you using a proper mat?

amazingemmet

Chances are your not engaging your abs and are using your hip flexors to pull yourself up.

Try this instead get into sit up position feet flat on floor, shins at right angles to thigh, hands holding the back of your skull. Now breath out and press your lower back as hard as you can into the floor and this should cause your shoulders to rise a couple of inches off the floor. rinse lather repeat.

DublinWriter

DO NOT! AND I REPEAT DO NOT! DO FULL SIT UPS!

A friend of mine (in the medical profession and should have known better!) obsessively did sit-ups until he slipped a disc and almost left himself in a wheelchair for life.

Any good personal trainer will tell you that the most you should raise your head off the ground is at maximum two inches.

It's all about how you position your legs in terms of which group of abdominal muscles get worked (check out any of the Tony Little Vids on how to do this).

Stop doing sit-ups unless you want to do permanent damage to your spinal column.

padi89

DublinWriter wrote:

DO NOT! AND I REPEAT DO NOT! DO FULL SIT UPS!

A friend of mine (in the medical profession and should have known better!) obsessively did sit-ups until he slipped a disc and almost left himself in a wheelchair for life.

Discs dont slip, they herniate or bulge.

DublinWriter

padi89 wrote:

Discs dont slip, they herniate or bulge.

I know, I'm just using the term that 95% of people know and use to refer to a spinal disc herniation.

davyjose

amazingemmet wrote:

Chances are your not engaging your abs and are using your hip flexors to pull yourself up.

Try this instead get into sit up position feet flat on floor, shins at right angles to thigh, hands holding the back of your skull. Now breath out and press your lower back as hard as you can into the floor and this should cause your shoulders to rise a couple of inches off the floor. rinse lather repeat.

AmazingEmmet, not contradicting you, I know you know your stuff, but how does that give you a full range of motion in your abs with this technique? I've always found that doing a full curl but as you said, not using hip flexors, to be a very backpain-free exercise.

amazingemmet

What i described was a crunch which will bring the upper abs into more play as well as force some activation into the Transversus abdominus by pushing the lower back into the floor. The lower abs need to be worked in different ways then on the floor to bring them through their full range of motion, Hanging legs raises with an anterior rotation of the pelvis and straight legs would be the best option of them imo.

The full sit up your describing can be done painfree if you have the initial ab strength to hold your torso in a C shape on during the rise and the descent. What i described was an exercise to help build the muscles to maintain that C shape.

There is what i consider the best sit up, Called a "janda" sit up where you contract your hamstrings against something which turns your hip flexors off, leaving only yours abs to do the work. Extremely hard to do but worth it.

because_I_can

DublinWriter wrote:

DO NOT! AND I REPEAT DO NOT! DO FULL SIT UPS!

A friend of mine (in the medical profession and should have known better!) obsessively did sit-ups until he slipped a disc and almost left himself in a wheelchair for life.

Any good personal trainer will tell you that the most you should raise your head off the ground is at maximum two inches.

It's all about how you position your legs in terms of which group of abdominal muscles get worked (check out any of the Tony Little Vids on how to do this).

Stop doing sit-ups unless you want to do permanent damage to your spinal column.

Im gonna have to totally disagree with you there. loads of people do 100s a day even 1000s full ROM and have no back pain whatsoever.
its more a question of doing them right and getting a good balance between back and abs etc

medical profession to me means nothing. doctor, nurse, physio, engineer whatever. a piece of paper means nothing. hands on skill and past results are all that counts. id say the piece of paper is the minimum and even that isnt needed for some people.

Cravez

Full sit-ups are not required to work the abdominal area.

Crunches
laying flat on your back, hands lightly behind your head with your elbows tucked in and keeping your legs flat. Force your lower back into the ground and then slowly roll your shoulders off the floor while keeping your lower back on the floor. This should isolate your abdominal muscles and you should raise only about 4-5 inches off the floor. Do this in a slow and controlled manner to get the best out of it.

Or you can always do Laying Leg Raises or Leg Pull ins. (which i find better than crunches). And all you need is a bed or bench.

Leg Raises: Lay flat on your back but your legs laying off the end of the bed/bench. Keep your arms straight by your side or with your palms under your butt. While keeping your legs straight, raise your legs as high as possible until you feel it on your abdominals (hold for a few seconds) then lower your legs as much as you can. And repeat

Leg Pull ins: Lay flat on your back but your legs laying off the end of the bed/bench. Keep your arms straight by your side or with your palms under your butt. To execute the exercise; keep your legs straight out then bend your knees while pulling your upper thighs to your mid-section (hold for a few seconds) then return to start position. And Repeat

I do barely any ab work since most of my lifting will involve ab work in some shape or form. But if i feel i need to train abdominals on their i use these exercises as their quick and effecient and virtually stress free on the back, all you need is a bed/bench and your own body. Of course their are many other exercises for abdominals put these ones i recommend if you're looking for somthing to train abdominals quickly.

Rogueish

Michael Cravez wrote:

Full sit-ups are not required to work the abdominal area.

Crunches
laying flat on your back, hands lightly behind your head with your elbows tucked in and keeping your legs flat. Force your lower back into the ground and then slowly roll your shoulders off the floor while keeping your lower back on the floor. This should isolate your abdominal muscles and you should raise only about 4-5 inches off the floor. Do this in a slow and controlled manner to get the best out of it.

Or you can always do Laying Leg Raises or Leg Pull ins. (which i find better than crunches). And all you need is a bed or bench.

Leg Raises: Lay flat on your back but your legs laying off the end of the bed/bench. Keep your arms straight by your side or with your palms under your butt. While keeping your legs straight, raise your legs as high as possible until you feel it on your abdominals (hold for a few seconds) then lower your legs as much as you can. And repeat

Leg Pull ins: Lay flat on your back but your legs laying off the end of the bed/bench. Keep your arms straight by your side or with your palms under your butt. To execute the exercise; keep your legs straight out then bend your knees while pulling your upper thighs to your mid-section (hold for a few seconds) then return to start position. And Repeat

FUll sit ups are what the aim is. The Ab crunches are good for initiating movement and providing a baseline strength to activate the abdominals but you are doing them with the aim of attaining a full range sit up.

Both your leg raises and leg pull upos are excellent exercises but you need an excellent core strength and abdominal strength before you can do them without causing strain on your lower back. They are not advised for beginners or anyone who has a history of lower back problems.

Amazingemmett wrote:

The full sit up ......can be done painfree if you have the initial ab strength to hold your torso in a C shape on during the rise and the descent.

Absolutely right. Therein lies the problem where the lower back is too immobile to allow segmental control and cannot attain the 'c curve'.

Amazingemmett wrote:

There is what i consider the best sit up, Called a "janda" sit up where you contract your hamstrings against something which turns your hip flexors off, leaving only yours abs to do the work. Extremely hard to do but worth it.

The only problem with it is if the person has the whole lowercross syndrome (weak Abdominals and hamstrings and tight quads and QL/Erector Spinae). They have to take it back a notch strengthen both muscle groups separately before progressing to the Janda.