A physical exercise in which one uses the abdominal muscles to raise the torso from a supine to a sitting position and then lies back down again without moving the legs.
sit-up
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Dictionary:
sit-up (sĭt'ŭp') |
| 5min Related Video: sit-up |
| Food and Fitness: sit-up |
An exercise to improve the strength and endurance of stomach muscles. There are many variations, some of which do more harm than good. Harmful versions include those which put too much strain on the neck and lower back (for example by quickly bringing the chest almost to the knees). Sit-ups are a great exercise, but only when performed correctly.▪ Begin by lying on your back with legs slightly bent at 45 degrees, and with your feet flat on the floor. Rest your hands on your thighs and move them towards the knees during the sit-up. (Your hand position is important because it affects the exercise intensity; this is the safest and easiest position for beginners.) Throughout the whole exercise, press your lower back against the floor; keep your neck and shoulders relaxed and your chin off your chest. Use your stomach muscles to slowly lift your shoulders off the floor, exhaling as you do so. Hold the inclined position for 2-3 seconds, then slowly return to the start position, breathing in as you do so; do not allow your head to touch the floor. Start with no more than 10 repetitions in one set, gradually increasing the workout to three to five sets of 15 repetitions.Sit-ups are sometimes used as a test of strength and muscular endurance of the abdominal (stomach) muscles. This should be done only if you are in good condition and do not suffer from back problems.
| NUMBER OF SIT-UPS IN 30 SECONDS | ||
|---|---|---|
| RATING | MALE | FEMALE |
| excellent | >30 | >25 |
| good | 26-30 | 21-25 |
| average | 20-25 | 15-20 |
| fair | 15-19 | 10-14 |
| poor | <15 | <10 |
| Idioms: sit up |
1.
Rise to a sitting position from lying down, as in The sick child sat up and asked for a drink of water. [Early 1200s]
2.
Stay up later than usual, as in The nurse sat up with her all night long. [Mid-1500s]
3.
Sit with the spine erect, as in She was always telling the students to sit up. [Early 1700s]
4.
Become suddenly alert, as in The students sat up when he brought up the test. The same sense appears in the related
sit up and take notice, as in When he mentioned the arrival of a movie star, they all sat up and took notice. [Late 1800s]
| Sports Science and Medicine: sit-up |
An exercise to improve strength and endurance of abdominal muscles. There are many variations, some do more harm than good. Harmful versions include those in which the legs are kept straight, and too much strain is imposed on the neck and lower back. Typically, the subject lies on his or her back, usually with hands on top of the head, knees bent, and soles of the feet flat on the floor about hip-width apart. The subject than curls up, either just lifting the shoulders off the floor or up to a sitting position, touching the elbows to the knees.
| Wikipedia: Sit-up (exercise) |
The sit-up is a strength training exercise commonly performed with the aim of strengthening the abdominal muscles and hip flexors. It begins with lying with the back on the floor, typically with the knees bent in an attempt to reduce stress on the back muscles and spine, and then elevating both the upper and lower vertebra from the floor until everything superior to the buttocks is not touching the ground. Stuart McGill of the University of Waterloo has found that situps can be dangerous due to high compressive lumbar load[1]. He suggests replacing it with the curl-up in exercise programs[2].
Contents |
Criticism
Although still common in military training, martial arts, and mass exercise classes, the conventional sit-up is sometimes considered dangerous by modern experts, and has largely been replaced by the crunch, since the publication of a research paper on the subject in 1999, for the following reasons:
Risks to vertebral column
Full sit-ups involve the hip flexors, as well as the abdominal muscles. This can cause the back to arch, with the risk of spinal damage. This is a particular risk for individuals with weak abdominal muscles, but also for individuals who train aggressively, exhausting their abdominal muscles in a training session. Even if these risks are avoided, the leverage exerted by the hip flexors risks compression of the lumbar intervertebral discs.[3]
According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, a straight leg sit-up generates approximately 3500 newtons (790 lbf) of force on the spine, and a bent-knee sit-up 3350 newtons (750 lbf), both levels above the 3300 newtons (740 lbf) that correlates highly with lower back injury.[4]
Hip flexor involvement
Modern research suggests that the abdominal muscles are responsible for only the first 30° of lift in a sit up—effectively the part of the motion where the shoulders only leave the ground. The hip flexors are responsible thereafter. This diversion of effort from the abdominals reduces the effectiveness of training for purposes of abdominal isolation[3] and makes the sit-up a test of combined spinal and hip flexion rather than spinal flexion alone.[5]
Abdominal muscular hypertrophy
Strength exercises such as sit-ups and push-ups do not cause the spot reduction of fat. Gaining a 'six pack' requires both abdominal hypertrophy training and fat loss over the abdomen—which can only be done by losing fat from the body as a whole.[3]
References
- ^ McGill, Stuart. "Stability: from biomechanical concept to chiropractic practice". http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2485366&tool=pmcentrez. Retrieved on 2009-03-13.
- ^ McGill, Stuart. Low Back Disorders: Evidence-based Prevention and Rehabilitation. Human Kinetics Publishers. ISBN 978-0736066921.
- ^ a b c Kravitz, Len. "SuperAbs Resource Manual". http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/abdominal.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
- ^ http://sportscenteraustin.blogs.com/the_view/2006/01/stop_sit_ups_an.html
- ^ Szasz, Anna (2002-11-01). "An electromyographical evaluation of the validity of the 2-minute sit-up section of the Army physical fitness test in measuring abdominal strength and endurance". http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3912/is_200211/ai_n9165660. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
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| Translations: Sit-up |
Nederlands (Dutch)
opzitoefening
Français (French)
n. - (Sport) abdominaux (npl)
Deutsch (German)
n. - Bewegung aus der Rückenlage in den Langsitz
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κοιλιακός, κοιλιακή άσκηση
Italiano (Italian)
alzarsi a sedere
Português (Portuguese)
n. - abdominal (m)
Русский (Russian)
переход в сидячее положение, дать внимание
Español (Spanish)
n. - ejercicios abdominales
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
仰卧起坐
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 仰臥起坐
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 腹筋運動, 起き上がり運動
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) ألجلوس, بأنتصاب
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - כפיפת בטן
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Food and Fitness. Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise. Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Sports Science and Medicine. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. Copyright © Michael Kent 1998, 2006, 2007. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sit-up (exercise)". Read more |
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| Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
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