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Effective Sit Ups

6th December, 2009 - Posted by health news - No Comments

Athletic training and sports practices continuously evolve, and it’s no wonder that traditionally effective sit ups are not recognized as generally valid anymore. The essential move of the sit ups used to be the lifting of the torso from the lying position towards the bended knees. At present, the lift is done only partly with no bending towards the knees and the firm tightening of the abdominal muscles. Here are some tricks for effective sit ups.

The position of the body controls everything. And here, it is common to strain the muscle necks instead of tightening the abs No effort should affect the head during the move. This is in fact the whole purpose of the laced fingers behind the head: to support the movement and allow only for the abdomen muscles to take over the effort. Do not lift the body at more than eight inches from the floor. You can learn the most effective sit ups by following the direct instructions of a gym coach.

The way the body adapts to the training should tell you how effective sit ups really are. If sit ups seem difficult to perform at first, the more you practice, the easier it gets. The difficulty level of the exercises should not be increased too often or too soon. If you train with regular sit ups for one or two weeks, all you have to do is just to increase the number of reps per week, then, you can think of another difficulty element to include in the routine. A Swiss ball works well for advanced training levels helping you perform effective sit ups.

The torso needs to stay parallel with the floor while you lie on the ball. During the exercise you keep your balance with the feet. If you are horizontal on the exercise ball, put your hands behind the head and lift the torso for a few inches. To take the maximum out of these effective sit up, you can lower the body a bit under the horizontal line so that the abs have to work more to lift you up. Regardless of the position of the legs during the exercises, it is highly important that you don’t work too hard for the lower back. Do not mistake effective sit ups for painful abdominal exercises, pain is not a positive factor in the equation.