For years now, sit ups have gotten a bad rap by many fitness "experts" who tout that sit ups are damaging to your spine.  Where did this strong opinion come from?  The way the sit up has been ostracized by the fitness community, you would suspect that hundreds of thousands of six pack abs seekers have destroyed their backs while performing this "dangerous" exercise!  Fortunately, that's not the case, not even close.

Trainers started chanting, "Sit-Ups are hazardous to your health" after clinging on to some studies findings.  These studies have shown that sit-ups do stress the spine more than crunches do.  Alright, I don't disagree with these particular findings.  I also agree that biking uphill stresses the body more than biking downhill.  Does this mean we should never pedal our bicycles up a hill?  Of course not.  What many "experts" missed here was the fact that all exercises stress the body.  This stress is what persuades our body to get stronger from exercise.

Now, let's take a second to investigate the sit-up.  The main reason why sit-ups add stress to the spine is because of the contribution of the hip flexors during the movement.  The critics assert that this hip flexor involvement causes compressive forces in the spine which is why sit-ups should be completely avoided.  Do they have a point, or are they overreacting?

Well considering that athletes and fitness enthusiasts have been performing sit ups safely for decades, it should be glaringly obvious that this "fear" is unsubstantiated in the real world.  In fact, after being in the fitness industry for over 16 years, I can say with confidence that I have NEVER seen a single back injury result from a set of sit ups.

I still hear many trainers say to me, "Ok, I'm convinced that sit-ups are not so dangerous now, but since crunches work the abs just as well, why even bother with sit-ups?  Let's see why they feel this way and why they can miss out on some advantages of sit-up variations.

The truth is that the abs are only responsible for the beginning portion of the movement during a sit-up.  Once you are in the finished "crunch" position, the hip flexors take over to finish the top portion of the sit-up.  It should be noted that although the hip flexors provide the movement in the top range, the abs are still contracting hard.  This contraction prevents your back from arching and contributes to the overall ab workout.

Something else to consider is that the sit-up burns more calories than crunches do.  Working through a larger range of motion and integrating other muscles besides the abs, makes this possible.  Remember, training your abs directly is only half the equation to having a six pack.  The other part to this is reducing body fat to unveil your stomach.  Burning additional calories will help contribute to this.

I prescribe sit up variations to any client who I feel they are appropriate for.  I do believe that you should have a foundation of abdominal strength and no chronic back problems.  If you fit the criteria and use proper form, you will have no problems with this exercise.

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