SIT UPS ??

solway

hi guys
i was wondering which way do the majority think is the best way to do sit ups.
ive had coaches and trainers in my sport tell me that i have to come all the way up and touch my knees with my elbows and other coaches tell me that i only need to raise my shoulders 3-4 inches off the ground,another physio told me the proper way is to lay flat on the ground slightly raise my legs and try to "pee" holding this position for a few seconds.
Can someone put some light on this subject please.
cheers

RacoonQueen

Raising your legs off the ground will work the lower abdominal muscles...I don't get the trying to pee bit though You only need to get your shoulders a couple of inches off the ground, once the 'lift' comes from your abdominal muscles and not your shoulders. Concentrate on your abdominals doing all the work and you'll know you're doing it right. Most people do them wrong.

ecoli

I would reccomend looking into core workouts i find that they offer much more benefits in terms of injury prevention and strengthening abominal muscles whether you are doing it for fitness reasons or purely superficial. there are many core workouts found on the internet that are useful basis for learning about them.
If you do however want to stick with sit ups one thing i would recommend is Dont ignore working your back muscles. THese are just as important and can cause a number of injury nightmares if you ignore.
Hope this helps any bit.

englishe

1. Ok the 'holding your pee' bit is referring to activating your Pelvic floor muscles. When you activate those, you also activate your Transversus muscle (a deep core muscle thats like a wide belt around your middle). It is important to train your deep core muscles as they provide you with the stability required in all movement.
2. doing sit-ups to touch elbows in knees actually uses more of the hip flexor muscles ( bring your knee to to your chest, thats your hip flexors working). Once your ribcage has lifted from the floor beneath, you are by-passing your superficial abdominal muscles
3. It is correct that you should be doing some extension work also (back work) to balance it out

RacoonQueen

The OP didn't say holding your pee, holding your pee would make sense...

englishe

solway wrote: »

hi guys
,another physio told me the proper way is to lay flat on the ground slightly raise my legs and try to "pee" holding this position for a few seconds.
Can someone put some light on this subject please.
cheers

- this is actually very stressful on the back if you dont do it correctly, as the weight of the legs can cause your low back to over-arch, thus stressing the lumbar spine....
I would suggest you look for a Pilates class somewhere and do that once a week - you will learn loads of exercises to strengthen your core muscles, and tone your superficial abdominals and waistline....
Correct form for targeting 6 packs is only getting the shoulder blades off the floor / fitball (if you're working on that)

solway

thanks for all the info. regarding sit ups,
cheers guys