Sit-ups: A total waste of time?
Categories: Fitness
Are sit-ups a total waste of time? If you enjoy doing them then the answer is 'no,' although if you're doing them just to build core strength you might be wasting your time. Why? Sit-ups and crunches have been around since the very beginnings of exercise, and it's not that they don't build strength and tone but in truth there may be better more effective ways to get the same results. Sit-ups and crunches are essentially isolation exercises, and doing comprehensive moves that involve your whole body where the abs and core can develop in coordination with the rest of the muscles can provide a strong core along with strong arms and legs and everything else. I'm not a personal trainer, but I bet there's arguments on both sides of this issue: sit-ups or no sit-ups? That is the question.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Crabby McSlacker 7-09-2007 @ 9:23AM
Interesting article, and these Army guys are hardcore! Great find, Rigel.
Although I am sort of intrigued by the idea that some of your readers might enjoy doing sit-ups so much that they'd never find them a waste of time, even if it turned out they didn't do much for you. I'm still trying to put those two words, "enjoy" and "sit-ups" together but it hurts my head too much.
(Crabby is a frequent pest at That'sFit. She has her own health blog, and todays post (7/9) is about how not to look like an idiot your first time at the gym. But unless you're really bored, there are way better things to do than visit:
http://crankyfitness.blogspot.com/2007/07/first-time-at-gym-how-not-to-make-ass.html
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allie 8-17-2007 @ 6:05PM
this is partly true because a majority of the time, people do situps incorrectly resulting in them having little to no effect. here are some effective abdominal exercises:
1) crunches on a ball: this allows you to further extend your back, thus working your abs much more than an average crunch.
2) plank position: while technically a yoga position, plank is great for building abdominal strength.
3) lying flat while lifting your butt off the floor: this exercise targets lower abs which are much harder to reach and commonly underworked.
and the million dollar question: "how do i know if i'm doing it right?" answer: if you feel the burn!
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