How the hell do u do a situp?!!!!?

Question

Heres my situation. I am 20 years old and very active. I'm 160 lbs and have only about 9% bodyfat, however it seems like its all in my abdominal section. When I workout and do abdominal exercises I feel the burn in my abs only for the first set of each ab exercises, then I only feel it in my back, legs, or feel nothing at all if i do another set. Is this normal or am i wrong in my form or something. Thanks

Answer 1

Try doing sit ups on a Swiss ball, it focuses the exercise totally on your abs. Also, when doing a regular sit up, try mentally picturing raising your chest toward the ceiling when going up instead of your chest to your knees.

Answer 2

This is normal, but you may be doing it incorrectly. If your abdominal muscles are very strong, it is possible that this exercise does not affect them without added resistance. Another reason could be improper performance. Here's the proper technique:

The sit-up event measures the endurance of the abdominal and hip-flexor muscles. Assume the starting position by lying on your back with your knees bent at a 90- degree angle. Your feet may be together or up to 12 inches apart. Another person may hold your ankles. The heels of your feet should stay in contact with the ground. Your fingers may be interlocked behind your head or crossed at your chest. Begin by raising your upper body forward to, or beyond, the vertical position. The vertical position means that the base of your neck is above the base of your spine. After you have reached or surpassed the vertical position, lower your body until the bottom of your shoulder blades touch the ground. Your head, hands, arms, or elbows do not have to touch the ground. A repetition should not count if you fail to reach the vertical position, arch or bow your back and raise your buttocks off the ground to raise your upper body, or let your knees exceed a 90-degree angle. You should not use your hands or any other means to pull or push yourself up to the up position.

Answer 3

What i do with sit-ups is kinda do some twists and stuff then that tires you for crunches. Sit-ups are kinda worthless Crunches are better for your back besides. What i do with Crunches is have upper bod and lower bod relaxed. Use your abs to lift up your lower body and try to make your abs crush a can simultaneously. when you get tired all you do is bring your legs out in front and hold them. I just learned this i use to do 100's of crunches now it is like 30, heh, the burn is intense.

Answer 4

first the "burn" is not an indicator that you are working a muscle correctly. do not judge the effectiveness of an exercise by the amount of fatigue that is experienced from performing that exercise.

your abs are weak and that is why you are feeling the "burn" in your back and legs because the underlying muscles of the hip flexors and in the lower lumbar region are actually doing the work.

you need to work on your core strength which is the abdominals, hip flexors and the low back.

Answer 5

I like crunches just lift up enough that you feel it in your abs hold it and let down and repeat you can vary it to to help sometimes your body gets used to one set so I do the side crunches Crunches with leg flat and bend just anything I can do to target my abs They are the hardest thing to see results it and if you push too hard sometime all you end up doing is straining your neck and back.

Answer 6

Try sit-ups on an incline bench with a medicine ball. Youll feel that!

Also, if you're feeling burn in your legs, you might have bad form. Are you using your anchored legs to pull you up (common) or your abs? It's fairly common for people doing sit ups to hook their feet onto something and brace their legs. Isolate your abs instead of your legs.

Answer 7

You're probably not feeling it because you're in such good shape.

Like if you were Arnold (you know who I mean) and you bench pressed 100 lbs, you wouldn't be wondering why you're not feeling the burn ya know? You probably just need to do crunches that focus on a certain part of your abs.

Also, I really couldn't tell you how to do a sit-up in text. watch an exercise video or ask someone at the gym.

Answer 8

The way I do it is I put a Beer in my left hand, the remote in my right hand, & I "Sit Up" in the lounge chair in front of the TV.
LOL!
But seriously, you may be obsessing a little if you have only 9% body fat, & you are trying to burn off more.
I may be the wrong guy to be advising you, but watch out, you can go too far with anything.

Answer 9

Sit ups will hurt your back more than crunches. If you do the crunches right, you should feel the burn in your abs only.

Answer 10

ummm dont worry about the sit ups yer not going to target fat loss no matter how many situps u do. just start off your day by jogging for about 15 minutes, do this everyday & you will burn your fat in your midsection. theres a webside for some excercise demos for your abs....