Download ArticleDownload ArticleThis article was co-authored by Laila Ajani. Laila Ajani is a Fitness Trainer and founder of Push Personal Fitness, a personal training organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over 10 years as a trainer and exercise specialist, Laila has expertise in competitive athletics (gymnastics, powerlifting, and tennis), personal training, distance running, and Olympic lifting. Laila is certified by the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA), USA Powerlifting (USAPL), and she is a Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES).
How.com.vn marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 100% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status.
This article has been viewed 172,328 times.
Doing sit-ups is a quick way to get stronger abdominal muscles. However, they must be done properly to avoid any injury to your spine and the neck and head muscles. In addition, sit-ups are about using the abdominal region (the abdominals). Therefore, close attention must be paid to ensuring that you are not compensating by using other parts of your body to perform sit-ups, as this will diminish the effectiveness of the sit-up and may cause injury to your body. It is not as harsh as it sounds - always, always focus on the abs and you are most of the way there.
Steps
Download Article
Have your knees bent and the balls of your feet and heels placed flat on the ground.
Place your hands on opposing shoulders, so that your arms are crossed over your chest, or behind your head. This allows you a central rising point.Advertisement
Tighten your abdominal muscles gently by drawing in your belly button to your spine.
Keeping your heels on the ground and your toes flat to the ground, slowly and gently lift your head first, followed by your shoulder blades. Focus your eyes on your bent knees, all the while gently contracting the abdominal muscles. Pull up from the floor until you are at a ninety-degree angle, or when the elbows are on, or past, the knees.
Hold the position for a second. Slowly bring the torso back to the floor but try to keep it slightly elevated off the ground. This means not to place your back flat to the ground but to keep a slight, yet relaxed, arch.
Repeat steps 3-5 for the remainder of the exercise. Only do two to three if you are a beginner and slowly build up the amount over time, as your strength increases. Then hopefully you will lose weight, too!
Expert Q&A
- QuestionDo you have any advice for doing situps without hurting my tailbone?
Laila AjaniLaila Ajani is a Fitness Trainer and founder of Push Personal Fitness, a personal training organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over 10 years as a trainer and exercise specialist, Laila has expertise in competitive athletics (gymnastics, powerlifting, and tennis), personal training, distance running, and Olympic lifting. Laila is certified by the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA), USA Powerlifting (USAPL), and she is a Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES).
Fitness TrainerHere are two important tips for performing sit-ups without causing discomfort to your tailbone: Firstly, ensure proper body positioning. Instead of initiating the sit-up by lifting your upper body immediately, focus on tucking your hips in. Imagine bringing the front part of your hips closer to your chin, rounding your back. This adjustment activates your abdominal muscles and safeguards your tailbone. Secondly, concentrate on using your abdominal muscles and keeping your back against the floor as you rise, preventing any arching that might undo the initial hip tuck. Following these steps will help protect your tailbone during sit-ups.
Video
Tips
- If you're having a hard time keeping the balls of your feet or heels on the ground keep at it, try asking a friend to keep them down. You can also find a heavy object (such as a sofa chair) and place your feet under it. This will give you support when attempting to bring yourself up.Thanks
- Moderation is the key to any abdominal exercise since the abs are literally the center of the body. If you think about it, in everything you do in daily life (walk, run, sit, stand, reach up for something, etc.) you have movement at or through your abs. With that in mind, be aware that if you overdo the sit-ups (or any abdominal exercise) you run the risk of ruining your next day with pain in the abdominal region. If you are a beginner, start out slowly and gradually do more.Thanks
- If you need help getting up ask a friend or a family member to stand on your feet. Tell you family member or friend to not stand too hard.Thanks
Warnings
- Avoid doing sit-ups if you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis. Bending your spine in the sit-up position places increased stress on your bones and can put you at risk for a stress fracture.Thanks
- Do not commit the common mistakes of sit-ups:
- If you choose to get your hands out of the way by putting them behind your head, make sure you don't push your head forward while lifting your torso. There is a natural tendency to do this since it helps you lift up and the tendency will increase as your abs get tired. However, the push on your head will strain the muscles in the neck. If you deal with your arms in another way, still try to keep your head out of the exercise.
- Don't try to put your forehead on your knees. The higher you come off the ground the better, but only to a certain extent. If your back is starting to curl (namely, you could be considered as being in a humpback position if you were standing), you will be placing too much strain on your lower back.
- If you can't keep your feet on the ground and haven't secured them properly, you will be spending extra effort to do so during the sit-up. Unfortunately, this effort will originate in the thighs, which isn't the target of a sit-up. In some people the thighs might give up before the abs, rendering the whole exercise completely useless.
Thanks - Keep in mind that the only way to build muscle is to push the muscle beyond its endurance limits. But if you do so many sit-ups to the point that you start to feel a stinging sensation on your abdominals, you have done too much. Your form will start to deteriorate and you won't be performing a proper sit-up.Thanks
Expert Interview
Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about exercise, check out our in-depth interview with Laila Ajani.
About This Article
Reader Success Stories
"How to do sit-ups and pushups properly, and how many to do. Also, pictures helped in doing the exercises. Thank You!"..." more
Did this article help you?
⚠️ Disclaimer:
Content from Wiki How English language website. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License; additional terms may apply.
Wiki How does not encourage the violation of any laws, and cannot be responsible for any violations of such laws, should you link to this domain, or use, reproduce, or republish the information contained herein.
- - A few of these subjects are frequently censored by educational, governmental, corporate, parental and other filtering schemes.
- - Some articles may contain names, images, artworks or descriptions of events that some cultures restrict access to
- - Please note: Wiki How does not give you opinion about the law, or advice about medical. If you need specific advice (for example, medical, legal, financial or risk management), please seek a professional who is licensed or knowledgeable in that area.
- - Readers should not judge the importance of topics based on their coverage on Wiki How, nor think a topic is important just because it is the subject of a Wiki article.
