10 exercises for Flat Abs
Different kinds of Sit Up Exercises
On March 6 2002, Edmar Freitas, a weight-training instructor, did 111,000 sit-ups in twenty-four hours. Freitas ate an energy bar and drank a glass of coconut milk to keep up his energy and strength while performing the sit-ups. He was also allowed a five minute break every four hours so he could go to the bathroom.
How to do the basic Sit up:
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and your knees off the floor, feet flat on the floor
- Place your hand on your stomach and look up at the ceiling, keep the small of your back pressed in to the floor
- Breathe in, Sit Up, raising your back off the floor as much as you can, exhale as you go up.
- Lie back down to the starting position
- If you experience lower back pain, reduce the number of repetitions or stop.
- Pause for a moment and repeat.
Sit Up with various hand positions:
While doing Sit Ups, you can vary the hand position to increase the difficulty and intensity of the exercise. Both the hands positioned below, target the upper abdominal muscles.
- While doing Sit Ups, grab your shirt collar.
- Keep your fingertips to your temples as you do Sit Ups.
Alternate Elbow to Knee Sit Ups. - Begin in the basic Sit Up position but with your fingertips on your temples.
- Your knees should be bent and your legs apart slightly.
- As you Sit Up, touch your left elbow to your right knee, or try to !
- Go back down and repeat, this time touching your right elbow to your left knee
- You may wish to have someone hold your feet on the floor at all times, or hook your feet under a heavy object like a sofa.
- A variation is to repeat right and left knee touches continually without lying all the way back down
Sit Up and Hold:
- Start lying down in the basic sit up position.
- Lift yourself up halfway and hold for a count of ten.
- Breathe normally as you hold yourself up.
- You can increase the duration of the hold but pay attention to the strain on your lower back.
Inclined Board Sit Up:
Inclined boards are great ways to increase the intensity in a sit up. Just make sure the board is securely fastened before you start. Nothing worse than injuring yourself trying to get fit !
- Position the inclined board at the first or lowest height position.
- Lie on the board in the normal sit up position.
- Hook your feet in the strap at the end of the board.
- Perform sit ups with your fingertips touching your temples.
- If you can easily do 15 repetitions, try raising the board to the next height and repeating the exercise.
Jacknife Sit ups:
Unmercifully intense !
- Start in the basic sit up position, with hands at your sides.
- Lift your legs in the air without bending your knees, and lift your head and shoulders simulteaneously so your whole body makes a nice "V" shape. Touch your fingertips to your feet, or try to.
- Release and go back to the starting position.
Commando Sit ups:
Sensei Oscars favorite. Rating - Pure hell ! Surprisingly popular with kids too, when they do this with a partner.
- You can do these Sit Ups by your self with some equipment or with a partner with no equipment.
- You nee a strong table, like a heavy park picnic table, with someplace to secure your .It must be strong, you must not fall off !
- Sit on top of the table and get into the sit up position with your hands at your fingertips and your back hanging over the edge of the table.
- Your feet must be secured !
- As you go down, lower your body over the edge of the table.
- Might be wise to have a freind to help if you cant get back up !
- Do sit ups using this extra range of motion.
- You can do this with a partner too, and its slightly safer. Have your partner on their knees, with their back parallel to the floor and their hand on the floor.
- Lie on your partners back with your legs draped over their shoulders. Your partner will then grab each of your ankles to keep you stable.
- Do your sit ups by lowering your head to the floor and completing the sit up.
- Try to avoid falling off, Usually this is the part that makes this exercise fun for kids !
- Done in the sit up position, but with your feet in the air.
- Keep your fingertips at your temples, and pretend you are pedaling a bicycle with your feet.
- Pedal really slowly, holding your head and shoulders slightly off the floor and rocking your shoulders back and forth to the pace of your pedaling.
- Try pedaling slowly with short bursts of pedaling as fast as you can
Punching Sit Ups:
- Lie in the sit up position and have a partner sit on your feet, to keep you stable.
- The same partner holds a small punching bag or timing bag.
- Sit Up halfway and punch the bag held on your right with your left hand.
- Punch with your right hand across your body to the bag held on the left.
- Lie back down and repeat quickly.
Team Sit Ups:
This is hard and a lot of fun. Its like doing the wave at a sports stadium, only harder.
- A team of people, 20 or more sit in a circle, facing in.
- Everybody holds hands.
- First person lies back down and starts to come up.
- As soon as the first person goes down, the next person starts to go down
- Timing is everything, If everybody does their sit ups in sequence, it looks like a wave going around the circle.
- Its a lot harder than you think !
