Situp question?

[Adam]

When doing situps/crunches/situp-like exercises, should you do them sloooowly and controlled or with great speed and in jerks?

Also, is doing 300 straight more beneficial than doing 6 x 50 with a 10 second rest in between?

[JediMasterChris]

I would reccomend not doing more than 300, do less and add weight or do it at an incline. You won't have to count so far and you will still be worked out just as hard if not harder.

[Adam]

I'm a bodyweight man.

[JediMasterChris]

Incline?

[Kat]

How about going for other leg excerises that work the abs
Check out Trainforstrength.com for flutter kicks and V ups, 2 I would recommend.
There are alot of abs workouts with a large variety of excerises,Pilates floor work also springs to mind.
I wouldn't go quick and jerky keep it slow and constant,leave the speed for your polymetric excerises.

[Freeform]

You can still do them fast without jerking if you can learn good technique!

Col

[Tosh]

Of course it depends what you are training for!

Sure 300 straight SU's are going to increase endurance however what are you training for?

Personally, I find more gains from limiting the amount of sit ups to 2-3 sets of 25 and increasing the "crunch" length.

I.e. Crunch and hold for 3 seconds, controlled descent to floor then crunch and hold. If arms across the chest ecome too easy try extending your arms above your head and keeping them in line with your body while you crunch.

[Tosh]

Originally posted by Freeform
You can still do them fast without jerking if you can learn good technique!

Col

LOL! "do them fast without jerking". If I didn't know you better Col, I'd ask what the hell you are talking about here........


.......:eek:

Col..... What the hell are you talking about here!?!?!? :)

[Freeform]

uh... situps I think?

Why do people want to do 300 odd situps, when you can get better benifit out of doing 3 x 30 properly?

Remember to tran those transverse and oblique abdominals as well!

Col

[Tosh]

Originally posted by Freeform

Remember to train those transverse and oblique abdominals as well!
Col


No......I don't want to...... the pain... :cry : the pain.... o what a world!


;)

[Freeform]

Nathan, I gotta admit the only reason I don't practice TKD is cause of all those bloody clockworks you make them do ;)

Col

[Cain]

clockworks? :confused:

|Cain|

[Knight_Errant]

Personally, I find more gains from limiting the amount of sit ups to 2-3 sets of 25 and increasing the "crunch" length. I've heard this as well. I have no idea whether it's true or not. The amount of disinformation out there about ab exercises is truly phenomenal. But if YODA says it, I'll believe it. Not before.

[pug32]

This is what i firmly believe in, i'll keep the physiology as minimal as possible


Muscle fibres are made up of three types fast twitch fast / slow twitch and slow twitch, the middle ones can be either converted towards one extreme or the other

Your six pack muscles are primarily fast twitch and so need to be trained in the same way you would build biceps or any others for strength (i.e no more than 25 reps ideally). These stomach muscles are also stabilisers for the spine under heavy impact or strains and by training 300 reps at a time you convert more fibres towards slow twitch reducing their capacity to perfom their intended role.

hope that helps

[YODA]

Wow! Someone with a brain!

Well put Pug32 :D

[pug32]

ta Yoda,


i've spent many frustrating hours of gym work trying to convince people this is the case:D

[Knight_Errant]

Got it.

[Adam]

So, um, what's the experts verdict? Slow and controlled or quick and jerky? And is 100 straight better than 4 x 25?

[Knight_Errant]

Quick and jerky situps are supposed to be a bad, bad idea because of the risk of injury to the spine, aren't they?

[Adam]

Hmm. That seems very unlikely to me, I do jerky ones and my back's fine.

[pug32]

4 x 25 everytime over 100 straight you don't want them to loose their correct function

the speed depends, train what you want from them, i.e if you need explosive power then do so other wise just keep to a steady rhythm with them. By explosive i mean perform the crunch itself (the upwards phase) in an rapid but controlled manner then return to the start position much slower and begin again

[Knight_Errant]

What was that thing about abs, gyms and kitchens again?

[AsSaSiN]

Oh it was "Gyms are made in the Kitchen, not the abs" :S

[Knight_Errant]

No, I think it was 'kitchens are made in the gym, not in the abs'...

[Mo Lung]

No, no, no. It was:

If you want a kitchen in your gym, get good abs...

or something.