Situps!

K

kali1

Cathlete
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Dec-06-02 AT 01:24AM (Est)[/font][p]Ohhhh my! I just did 5 situps tonight!! Since starting my journey with Cathe, I've avoided situps because I didn't think I could do it because of being overweight. My situp form wasn't the greatest but it felt great!!!

One question though...how do you perfect your situp form? When I started, I was pulling up from my neck, which I know is a no no. I think my form was better near the end because after my 5th situp, I felt a tight knot in my abs. I had to stretch out in order to relax that muscle. I guess the more I do them, the easier it will get. Any suggestions?

Thanks!!

Kali :)
 
Kali

I would just add visual as you do the movement your abs what I try and do is lift only when I can feel it in my abs so when I started I did them slowly. Yes you are right the more you do the better it will get and don't forget to keep you neck in alignment.

Babs
 
Hi Kali,

Congrats on your 5 sit ups! :)
Yes, you will build on them by doing them consistently. I use to struggle like crazy with Cathe's sit ups, and in the beginning I'd do like 10 and then lie on the floor watching her do the other 200 + without me! Of course I rejoined her at the cooldown!

Here's what I did:
I always began the set with her and did as many as I could until I felt the burning sensation or soreness, then lie back and rest my abs and rejoin her as soon as was comfortable, or once she moved on to another ab section. So if I burned out on regular crunch style, I'd pick back up at oblique crunches and go as far as I could with those, lie back, relax my abs, pick back up when the burning was gone.
Eventually (like months down the road so don't rush it) you'll hang for the whole set, but give yourself plenty of time. I JUST got to the place I can hang the entire time and I've been doing Cathe for over a year, and there are still days I burn out and just stare at the screen!
Lower ab work: Isn't this the MOST unfair thing to ask a woman with a belly to do!? Now I don't know about you, but I couldn't do Cathe's versions of lower ab work with legs or knees in the air, so how I modified in order to still work my lower abs was to do the "bicycle" exercise whenever she did lower ab work. With the bicycle move (and I'm assuming you know this move, let me know if you don't) you get a triple bonus because you're working the upper abs, lower abs and obliques! Another lower ab move is leg scissors, I'd do them also after burning out on bicycles. Also, on days when you burn out and can't pick back up because you are just too sore, roll over and try holding some planks. You're still getting some core work! :)

You'll find your abs getting stronger and stronger over the weeks/months, and you'll hang longer and longer, so don't rush.
Remember, fitness is cummulative, give your body time to learn!

Hope I helped :)

Donna


Fitness~ it's a journey, not a race!
 
Proper sit up (crunch)

If you don't use the correct form when doing a sit-up, instead of developing a flat, strong stomach, you could end up with something else entirely!(here's 2 options for sit-ups(crunches) To do a proper sit up, lie down on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat. Place your hands behind your head to "support" your neck. Keep your elbows back. Inhale, then exhale, slowly bring your chest, head, and shoulders off the floor, curling them toward your thighs.(if you feel tension in your neck you can put your arms along your sides extended out or crossed on your chest and lift from the shoulders)Another way
to doing crunches without aggravating your neck is to lay flat on your back ensuring that your lower back is in contact with the floor, your legs in the air at a 90-degree angle while holding your head in your hands behind each ear without clasping your hands together (with hands clasped, people tend to pull up on their heads thus pulling on the neck).
You should then contract your abdominal muscles so that they raise your shoulder blades off the floor. Your shoulders should only come up a few inches off the floor.
During the time that you are performing the movement, remember to keep your head, hands and elbows still and let the abs do the work, not your neck. Go slowly and smoothly, and remember that it is the quality of exercise that is most important, not quantity. Once you perfect your technique and want to incorporate more of the abdominal area-just shift your knees to right side to work the left oblique, then shift knees left to work right oblique!To emphasize on lower, when legs are raised in the air,slowly raise them up and down--to make it more intense do an upper and lower crunch at the same time(raising legs up and crunching up(exhaling on the up,inhaling on the down)It's very important to do it proper so it's effective! Start off slow and gradually increase to the variety of exercises out there for abs! Good luck!

Your friend in fitness~~Francine
 
Hi Kali, you asked about form so that you are not pulling on your neck while doing crunches. I read a suggestion on msn.com (about a million years ago) that has really helped me. There are three things that are really simple & will amaze you at how much they work. Ok, enough rambling---

1.) put your hands "spider like" (open your fingers real wide) on the sides of your head instead of putting them behind your head. This will prevent you from pulling on your neck when crunching.

2.) put your tongue on the roof of your mouth. I was amazed at how much this helped. For whatever reason you cannot pull on your head with your tongue on the roof of your mouth!

3.) visualize putting a grapefruit between your chin & your neck & hold it there while crunching. This will help "perfect" your form.

Hope this helps you!

Deborah

I'm ready to take the next step! http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/Smilies_klein_1/a_smil09.gif
 
One trick to develop good form: lie on the floor with your legs bent, feet flat on floor, and your arms down at your sides. Exhale, and as you do so, push your belly button down into the floor/mat. At the same time, slide your finger tips across the floor to reach about 1-2"farther than you can while relaxed. Your shoulders will start to come up. Hold this position for one count, then lower down while keeping tension on your abs (feel like you're trying to keep the muscle from stretching). You will definitely feel these in your abs, and they will be tough, but they will train you to use your abs and not momentum to do the lift. You can also bring in the lower abs a bit more by tilting up the pelvis when you press down with the belly button.

If your neck starts to hurt, or your head feels heavy, you can support your head with one hand. Another way of supporting your head (besides the "spider fingers" position that someone else mentioned, is to use a folded towel as a support. Rest your upper neck/lower head on the towel and hold on to the ends . Keep your hands to the side so that you are just using them as a support for the towel/your head, and not moving them forward to pull on your head.
 
Great suggestions! Thanks a bunch!! Last night, I increased my situps by 2! WOOO! I'm excited!:-jumpy

Question though: I know each body will react differently but when you started doing sit-ups and crunches on a regular basis, how soon did you start seeing results?

Thanks everyone!!!

Kali :)
 
Kali,

A quick visual for what helped me -

Imagine a thread running from the ceiling to the middle of your chest. When you do you crunch, imagine the string is pulled up to the ceiling, and your chest and body goes with it. This helped ensure that I was using my abs and not my neck to do the crunch.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Susan G.
 
seeing results...............

Hi Kali,

You'll actually feel results before you see them. You'll notice your abs getting much stronger, and your ability to do ab work increase, as well as other core work increase first. Depending on how much body fat you have to lose over them dictates when you "see" results. You can work your abs all day every day but as long as there's a layer of fat covering them you won't see the definition.
I saw my first glimpse in my upper abs, just under the breast bone area (of course that's all I continue to see presently!), so I guess you can say I've got 2 out of the six-pack, but the other 4 are still buried beneath meat!
So it really will depend on your body fat level. There are many here on the forum I hear talk about defining their abs and their complaints are all pretty much the same, they have to do more cardio to burn the fat covering their abs. I'm still burning mine from my abs, hips, etc., so I really don't focus on JUST my abs, but you'll notice your obliques and upper abs probably first, it seems the lower abs are the most stubborn from what I hear! :)

Donna
Fitness~ it's a journey, not a race!
 
Dear kali,The main thing i have learned about doing situps are that you have to do them every day or every other no less. I have only been doing them now for 2 months. I have noticed a tight feeling there that is constant.I still have alot of fat there to loose but once you loose the fat you will see the muscles.Keep it up and dont stop! Corybugg
 
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