Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Sit-ups can strengthen your belly muscles, but doing
them incorrectly can hurt your back. Sit-ups should be done while
you lie on your back with your knees bent enough for the soles of
your feet to touch the floor. Place both hands on your chest and
slowly raise your head off the ground. Raise your shoulders
about one foot and then lower them to the ground. Do this slowly
ten times, rest a few seconds and then do two more sets of ten.
After a week or two this exercise will feel easy, so add a light
weight held behind your neck or on your chest. As you become
stronger, you can use heavier weights.
There's no need to do more than 30 sit-ups in one
workout. To strengthen your belly muscles, you increase the
resistance, not the number of repetitions. Keep your knees bent
to protect your back. If you do a sit-up with your legs straight,
you place a great force on the iliopsoas muscles that increase the
arch in your back, which can damage the ligaments and joints. If
your belly muscles are weak, you are likely to arch your back
excessively when you sit up and increase the chances of injury. If
you are doing sit-ups to flatten your stomach, you need to raise
your head only about one foot because going higher than that
uses the quadriceps muscles in the front of your upper legs, not
your belly muscles.
September 15, 2006