Are You Feeling Your Situps?

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Situps are designed to strengthen your abdominals. They're one of the few exercises that'll autocorrect your posture. When you perform a situp correctly, you feel complete engagement of the abdominal muscles. However, when you perform it incorrectly, you'll feel it elsewhere but your abs or not at all.

Engaging Your Abdominals as You Sit Up

Start by laying on a flat surface, knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Lift your head off the ground, focusing your gaze on your navel. This engages the abdominals. Clasp both hands behind your head for support. The first 30 degrees of movement brings your sternum closer to your pelvis, triggering your rectus abdominis to work. Continue the motion of lifting up the torso, arriving in a tall-seated position, hands gently placed behind your head, facing forward, elbows pointed outward.

Engaging Your Abdominals as You Lie Down

In reversing the order of the situp, you will feel your abdominals engage as you lower your body back to the flat surface. Keep your hips tucked under as you return to the floor. Continue supporting your head with your hands. Prevent pulling at your head by tucking your chin over your chest, focusing your gaze on your navel. Steadily lower your torso down, vertebra by vertebra, returning to your start position with your feet on the floor, head forward and hands gently clasped behind your head.

Using Tempo to Engage Abs

If you are doing situps and you are not feeling anything, follow the instructions above slowly. Using tempo is a great way to engage muscles, reduce momentum and maximize an exercise. Take four counts to lift the body to an upright position, pause for two counts and descend for six counts.

Feeling Situps Elsewhere

You may feel abdominal exercises like the situp in your lower back or hip flexors instead of your abdominals. Ensure the first three seconds of the situp engage your rectus abdominis and maintain that level of focus throughout the range of motion of a situp, both in the ascent and descent. This will prevent the lower back from activating in this exercise. Modify the distance of feet apart or knees bent to find the right balance so that your abs do the work rather than other muscles.

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