The Big Belly-Flattening Myth Called The ‘Sit-Up’

The Big Belly-Flattening Myth Called The ‘Sit-Up’ Okay, you want to sit up for this one because we’ll be talking about an exercise called the Sit-up. Considering that the Sit-up is probably the most popular exercise ever, I’m guessing you’ve heard about it and you may have done a few repetitions in your time. But, […]

The Big Belly-Flattening Myth Called The ‘Sit-Up’

Okay, you want to sit up for this one because we’ll be talking about an exercise called the Sit-up.

Considering that the Sit-up is probably the most popular exercise ever, I’m guessing you’ve heard about it and you may have done a few repetitions in your time.

But, in the off chance that you don’t know what a Sit-up is then I’m going to say one thing: seriously?!

Are you a learner?

Okay, that’s two things but that’s what I do.

A Sit-up is an abdominal exercise that trains the muscles of your midsection.

Now, for the sake of this article I’m going to use the terms Traditional Sit-up, Sit-ups, and Crunches interchangeably.

So why is the traditional sit-up so popular? Why is it go-to exercise for most people when they want to flatten their bellies and trim their midsection?

3 Reasons

(1) The media and celebrities have managed to brain wash us (well, some of us) into thinking it’s the ultimate belly fat killer

(2) The ‘no pain no gain’ craze. People think where there is pain then there must be gain. Muscular pain in your abs during a sit-up doesn’t translate to fat loss around the belly. If anything, it should get you to rethink your strategy, especially if the pain finds its way to your lower back. If you still think pain leads to gain, (or fat loss in this case) then try this – get someone who doesn’t like you to punch you real hard in the gut a few times each day for about a month.

I guarantee that the only thing you’ll be losing is your mind.

(3) The need for a shortcut. We prefer the path of least resistance; the shortcut. Unfortunately, the sit-up is actually the ‘long-cut’ to a flat belly. We just think if we do a couple hundred sit-ups each day for a week we’ll end up a flat belly. I mean its gotta be easier than cleaning up the diet and going out for a run right?

I’m gonna share with you some really interesting studies about the traditional sit-up but first I’d like to tell you about my own experiences with this exercise.

Back in the university, I started out as a skinny kid who wanted to but couldn’t play basketball. Its not that the other guys were mean or anything its just that I sucked at the game so I would never get chosen to play.

Even worse, was when they’d miraculously choose me and we’d have to play ‘skins’ (that’s when you play shirtless). I couldn’t play to save my life and I was skinny like you wouldn’t believe. Flash back … I remember a Ghanaian kid pointing and laughing at me because I had a small pot belly.

That’s right, I was skinny and I had a beer belly.

Anyway, I wanted more. I wanted to be good enough to get selected and even dominate the game. So I started training and working out day and night. I ate, drank, and slept basketball. It was all I cared for. My drive led me to get tons of Menshealth and Muscle & Fitness magazines. I turned to these magazines for training techniques to getting bigger, stronger, and faster. My hard work paid off (it always does). I went from being the skinny kid nobody wanted on their team to being a BAD A*#. I was good now and I won pretty much every game I played. Plus, I now had a physique that turned heads. I’m talking pecs, shoulders, and a 6-pack so developed you could use it as a book shelf.

Note: in case you’ve not noticed, that’s me bragging there.  Just stay with me I’m going somewhere with this, I think.

I got my physique and 6-pack by running several miles (a lot of it uphill), cycling, lifting weights (very heavy weights), jumping on and off things, playing a lot of basketball, and doing a ton of crunches.

Like I said, I was now a dominant player but something was wrong. I had developed this recurring lower back pain that that was so severe that I’d be unable to walk or move for days. The pain was so excruciating that I relied heavily on pain killers. Eventually, after some extensive research and speaking with a physiotherapist, I learnt that the sit-ups I had grown to love and do religiously were the source of my back pain. How could it be? I thought to myself.

But I’m stronger now and I have a 6-pack belly like the guys in the magazines. I was told to discontinue basketball and my workout routine and to stop doing sit-ups or any crunching exercises.

It was a long rest.

Several months later I was cleared to start exercising again but was given specific instructions on how strengthen the core and train safely for overall strength and power. This time though, I had the right information, I had learnt the hard way. During the months of rest I lost my ‘precious’ 6-pack and

I was almost back to that skinny kid. I resumed training using what I had learned and in a short while

I was back to an athletic physique (6-pack and all) and I didn’t have to do one traditional sit-up to get there.

The moral of the story is that you can do without crunches and also, Ghanaian boys are mean. Just saying.

I learnt the hard way that sit-ups are not safe. I had learnt on the hospital bed that a 6-pack was no good if you couldn’t move without pain.

I have a better and stronger back now and, thankfully, a nice set of abs.

That’s my story and I hope you’ll learn from it or maybe you’ll be more open to the world’s leading expert on the spine and back health.

Here’s what Stuart M. McGill, a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, Canada, has to say about the sit-up: “There are only so many bends or a ‘fatigue life’ in your spinal disks. Inside each disk is a mucus-like nucleus and if you keep flexing your spine and bending the disk over and over again, that nucleus slowly breaches the layers and causes a disk bulge, or a disk herniation.” That leads to severe back pain and more.

The American Council on Exercise published a study ‘New Study Puts The Crunch on Ineffective Ab Exercises’ supporting idea that the sit up is not exactly what it is hyped up to be . In this study, the researchers estimated the effectiveness of 13 different abdominal exercises by measuring the momentaneous activity using the electromyography (EMG). The traditional sit-up placed 11 on that list, just above Tubing Pull and Ab Rocker.

11th?

So my question is why do we keep doing traditional crunches when they are not even effective?

And I bet you didn’t know that abdominal exercises also put some degree of compressive force on the lumbar spine, putting unwanted stress on the lower back and may cause respiratory problems.

Yes, there’s research that shows that.

It’s crazy, they are ineffective and unsafe and yet we swear by them.

Another study published by Department of Kinesiology & Health Education, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, USA.The study involved 24 subjects and after six weeks they found that abdominal exercise training alone was not sufficient to reduce abdominal subcutaneous fat and other measures of body composition.The traditional sit-up and most abdominal exercises, by themselves, will not help you lose weight and burn belly fat. You can not do thousands of crunches and hope to selectively burning the fat around your belly. 

Spot reduction, as far as we know now, is not possible.

And if you are still skeptical then consider that it takes about 250,000 crunches to burn a pound of fat. That is, if you were completing 100 sit-ups a day it would take you about 7 years to burn a pound of fat.

 Like someone I Know would say: that is crazy! By the way, a pound is about the weight of your phone.

If you want to get better at doing sit-ups and crunches and you don’t mind the pain and lack of results then by all means keep doing them.  However, if you want to a safe and effective plan to long-term health and fitness then I urge you to seriously consider discontinuing your crunch-till-I-puke-and-my-back-hurts lifestyle.

For me and you too, it should all start with goal setting because your goals will determine the approach you should take.

What are you trying to achieve?

Do you want to lose weight, flatten your belly, or tone your arms, hips, and bum?

Do you want to burn fat and shave of a few inches off your belly?

Do you want a stronger core (abs, glutes, and back)?

Most people fall into any of the categories above.

Generally, for weight loss and body transformation, you need to consistently create a calorie deficit by using a sensible healthy diet and a safe and effective workout program.

Notice I underlined the words ‘safe’ and ‘effective’ up there. Crunches, the way most people do them, are not safe and are ineffective for our goals.

As I stated in the beginning of this article and as we’ve seen from the studies I cited, a sit-up is unsafe and pretty much ineffective when it comes to burning and reducing body fat, especially around the belly.

The sit-up should not be a main feature in your weight loss and fitness tool box.

Most people think that because they can feel a burn in their abdominal muscles when the do crunches then it must be burning the fat there like barbecue or something. Nothing is further from the truth.

A snow ball would have a better chance in hell than you would at losing belly fat if crunches were your only strategy.

Even if your goal is to build a six-pack, you are going to need to burn that layer, or layers for some people, of fat covering the muscles. You were born with abdominal muscles so you don’t have to do anything to get them.

However, if you want to trim your belly or develop a muscular well toned muscles in your midsection (6-pack) then you need to first focus on overall fat loss, including the belly, and then work on strengthening your core.

I have shared my story, scientific studies, and research and if I could come over there and make you do the right thing I would but you know that is not going to happen so it’s up to you to do what needs to be done to get what you want.

In summary, to lose weight and flatten your belly, eat a healthy ‘calorie restricted’ diet and follow a safe and effective fat-burning exercise program.

You see I really care about your health and fitness.

 

Twitter: @abjfitnesscamp