Sit ups and crunches represent traditional exercises used for training the core muscles and flattening the abdomen. The number of injuries or the inefficiency of these ab workouts nevertheless indicate that many people don’t know how to do sit ups correctly. Here are a few tips on doing sit ups at the gym or at home without any risk and with great effects.
Start by lying down on a hard surface, preferably the floor. If the position is comfortable you can keep the feet flat on the floor and bend the knees. The distance between the feet should be the same as that between the knees or between the hips. When you lie down, the muscles relax, you eliminate the tension and there is possible soreness in the tissues. Now, let’s see how we can do those sit ups the right way to get firm abs.
It is important to pay attention to the position of the hands. If you are a beginner, it is advisable to put the hands behind the head, cushioning it with the fingers laced together. You can thus protect the neck, because the muscles in the neck should not participate to the moves in any way. Don’t pull your neck when you lift. It may be difficult to learn how to do the sit ups with the hands by the side of the body. When the training routine is more advanced you can try this technique, but not before.
The stomach muscles should be pulled toward the spine in support of a lifting move. You should lift just the shoulder blades off the ground, for no more than eight inches in the direction of your knees. Make the rise and the fall back very slow. The rising and lowering movement is the basis for the sit ups, and the results are influenced by the speed of the performance. The benefits of the exercises become more obvious when the training is correct. Seek ways to improve the training to get great abs fast once you know how to do the sit ups.
Increasing the difficulty level is crucial for efficiency. Use more reps to stimulate the muscle growth. You can alternate crunches and sit ups or combine the sit ups with twisting moves. The possibilities are numerous from beginner to advanced levels.