Sit-up
Log this in the trackerA full curl from the floor to upright, training abs and hip flexors together.
What it is
Starting flat, you curl up until your torso is upright, then lower. It trains the abs through a longer range than a crunch, with the hip flexors doing the second half.
Muscles worked
Primary: Core. Secondary: Hip flexors, Obliques.
How to perform it
- Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat, or anchored under a bar.
- Cross the arms on your chest or hold them by your ears.
- Curl the spine up one segment at a time until you are sitting upright.
- Lower with the same control, rolling down through the spine rather than dropping.
Common form faults
- Yanking off the floor with a flat back. Curl the spine segment by segment; if you cannot, do crunches until you can.
- Hooking the feet and pulling with the hip flexors from rep one. Try it unanchored. If you cannot rise without a foot hook, the abs are not yet ready for the full range.
Programming
12 to 20 reps. Hold a plate at the chest to make it harder rather than pushing past thirty reps.
Plan your training
Variations & substitutions
Frequently asked questions
- Are sit-ups bad for the lower back?
- Repeated full flexion under load bothers some backs. If yours is one of them, use crunches, leg raises and planks instead; nothing is lost.
- Feet anchored or free?
- Free is the stricter version and keeps more work on the abs. Anchored lets you do more reps and add load, at the cost of more hip flexor involvement.