safe way to do situps?!


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Answers:
First and foremost, stay away from any ab machine you see on TV as they are simply a waste of money and barely effective.

It is also important not to confuse the term sit-ups with crunches which are the effective method to exercise your upper abdominals. The abdominal muscles work just like any other muscle and have to be challenged as such. If you want muscular abdominals, you have to challenge them with resistance and good form just like you would your chest, your back or any other muscle for that matter. Targeting the correct energy system is imperative. This means you should never enter into the aerobic phase of this exercise, ideally keeping it under 2 minutes at most.

Think of rolling a carpet and contracting fully on the top of the movement and squeeze. If you do them correctly, you shouldn't be able to do more than 30 crunches. Any more than that, and you're probably doing them half-azz, incorrectly or with a partial range of motion.

For the upper abs, focus on crunches which effectively work the abdominals better than sit-ups or any machine on the market.

For the lower abs, keep in mind there is very little muscle tissue there so decreasing levels of body fat is the most effective way to bring out the best in this area. Hanging leg raises, v-situps and reverse curls are among some of the best exercise for this region. Always make sure your pelvis curls up to maximize lower abdominal contraction during these exercises.

As far as fat loss and getting ripped goes, cardio, cardio, cardio. Abdominal exercises alone will never burn fat from your abdominal area. You must do cardiovascular exercise to accomplish this. Cardio is best in the morning, on an empty stomach at about 70-80% of your maximum heart rate for about 30-45 minutes. This combined with a common sense diet will quickly shed body fat so you can actually see those abs you've developed.

I would encourage you to seek the advice and guidance of a personal trainer in your area for further education on these principles. Please ensure you start off at a very basic level for crunches and cardio if you are a beginner.

Here's a good list of ab exercises:
http://preventdisease.com/fitness/Strength_Exercises_abdominals.html

Other Answers:
First of all forget about doing sit-ups . they use the hip flexor muscles not the abdominals and they are bad for the back. Try crunches instead. To do a crunch properly lie down on your back with your knees bent up. Place your hands behind your head and relax your neck and head into your hands. Next try to lift your shoulder blades off the ground by about 2-3 inches. Do not initiate the movement from the head and neck as this is really bad for the neck. Always try to look directly at a same spot on the ceiling throughout the whole movement.
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