Sit-ups are an important part of physical exercise, and some people even misunderstand them as helping to reduce abdominal fat.

The main function of sit-ups is to strengthen abdominal muscles. If done correctly, sit-ups can not only improve the elasticity of abdominal muscles, but also protect the back and improve the posture. On the other hand, if not done well, sit-ups are not only a waste of time, but even harmful.

According to Stamford (1997), the correct way to do sit-ups is to lie on the floor mat, with your knees bent about 90 degrees and your feet flat on the ground. Don't fix your feet on the flat ground (for example, your partner presses your ankles with his hands), otherwise the flexors of thighs and buttocks will also join the work, thus reducing the workload of abdominal muscles. Furthermore, straight leg sit-ups will increase the burden on the back and easily cause damage to the back. Determine the position of your hands according to the strength of your abdominal muscles, because the closer your hands are to your head, the more difficult it will be to do sit-ups. Novices can put their hands on their sides, and when they get used to it or improve their physical fitness, they can cross their hands on their chests. Finally, try to cross your hands behind your head, but each hand should be placed on the shoulder on the other side of your body. Never cross your fingers behind your head, so as not to strain the neck muscles when exerting force, and this will also reduce the workload of abdominal muscles.

Use a slower speed, just like slow-motion playback. When the abdominal muscles pull you up, you have to exhale, so as to ensure that all the muscles deeper in the abdomen participate in the work at the same time.

After the body is off the ground 10 to 20 cm, tighten the abdominal muscles, pause for a while, and then slowly lower the body back to its original position. When your back touches the ground, you can start the next cycle. In the process of sit-ups, the abdominal muscles actually only participate in the work at the initial stage, and then the hip flexors will replace the task. Similarly, turn your body in the final stage of sit-ups (right elbow touches your left knee, left elbow touches your right knee, etc.). ) not only will it not help to strengthen the abdominal muscles, but it will even cause trauma to the lower back due to the compression caused by rotation.

Beginners should avoid doing sit-ups too many times at a time. At first, they can try to do it five times, and then add it once in each exercise until it reaches about 15 times. At this time, they can try to do another group until they reach three groups.

* Three misunderstandings about sit-ups.

Myth 1: Some people don't have time to go to the gym to exercise, and they will choose to do some basic and effective simple exercises at home in order to lose weight. Sit-ups are a way that many people choose. Many people think that as long as they keep doing it, they can achieve the goal of losing weight.

Error correction: Simply relying on sit-ups can only achieve local fitness effect, because sit-ups are directly aimed at abdominal muscle groups, and the effect of long-term exercise may strengthen abdominal muscle strength, but other parts of the body, such as thighs and buttocks, get less exercise. Therefore, the first thing to pay attention to is to effectively combine sit-ups with other fitness methods in order to achieve a perfect weight loss effect.

Myth 2: Usually, many people do sit-ups quickly and fiercely, thinking that this is a manifestation of strengthening abdominal muscles. In fact, it is easy to strain the abdominal muscles.

Error correction: The correct way is to cross your hands on your chest and control your abdomen when sitting up. Or to increase the difficulty, put your hands behind your head and try to separate your elbows to achieve the exercise effect.

Myth 3: When many people do sit-ups, their bodies will naturally deviate in a certain direction. This is not right, it will make the abdominal muscles move unevenly and lose their shape.

Error correction: You should try to control the direction of supine, don't deviate from the straight line, and slow down to exercise the control ability of abdominal muscles. It is best to feel the movement of abdominal muscles when you get up.