This Trick Will Make Doing Situps Much Easier
Do you want those six-pack abs? Adding situps to your workout routine can help, but they can be a challenging exercise. Whether you are in the military or law enforcement, an athlete, or just want to improve your situps, this trick will help you do more, but let's not jump in right away. Before you get started, make sure you're using the proper form when doing your situps.
According to Verywell Fit, situps can strengthen your core and hip flexors, prevent back pain, and increase flexibility in your spine. However, not using the proper form won't give you these benefits, and will only cause injuries and pain.
Here's how to keep proper form — don't arch your back and avoid bending your neck. If you've been doing situps wrong, you might have pain in your neck and back. GQ points out that you need to keep your spine in a neutral position to avoid this. Pull your chin back a bit and avoid moving your head forward as you sit up. Take it slow. Don't try to do more situps in a certain amount of time just yet. You need to get your technique down first, and to do that, you need to take it slow. Once you can do some situps with good form, you can start to try to do more in less time. Ready for the trick that will help you up your situp game?
The trick that makes situps easy
This exercise trick is from Fitness For Transformation on YouTube, which focuses on home exercises with no equipment. Start by lying down on your back on a mat with your knees bent and your feet flat. Here's the trick — cross your arms above your chest. Next, raise your arms up straight, so you're reaching for the ceiling. Next, bend your elbows and grasp your left elbow with your right hand and your inner right elbow with your left hand. Keep your grip relatively loose.
Ready? Engage your abs and exhale while you raise your upper body off your mat. Stop when your arms are over your knees. Keep your core engaged and inhale on the way down and back to starting position. Go slow and keep your spine neutral, making sure you're not flexing your neck or curving your back.
Livestrong recommends doing a baseline test. Set a timer for two minutes and see how many situps you can do in that time. Don't force too many or go so fast that you're lacking good form. Divide that total by three to get your number of sets. For example, if you can do 30 in two minutes, do three sets of 10 situps, resting for 30 seconds in between sets. Add these situps to your regular workout routine.