Sit-Ups and Training

Sit-Ups and Training

 

It is somewhat common knowledge that sit-ups may not be the best exercise for anyone to perform, especially someone suffering from lower back pain.  Many people feel that this is due to the activation of the psoas or hip flexor muscle during the sit-up, which results in compression of the spine.  As a result, people have turned to performing sit-ups with bent knees, feeling that by placing the psoas muscle in a shortened position, that it will not contract as intensely, thereby decreasing the amount of spinal compression.  Unfortunately, research shows that just the opposite is true; the shortened psoas must contract at a higher level due to its new shorter length.  This places even higher compression force on the spine.  Many researchers agree that when training for health purposes, sit-ups should be avoided all together.  There are better ways to train the abdominals while sparing the spine.