Sit-ups Are Killing Your Back

For years we’ve been conditioned to think sit-ups are a great way to work out our abdominals to get the ever elusive 6-pack.  We did them in PE when we were in school and doing physical fitness tests so how could all those teachers be wrong?  Sit-ups have been a staple in most abdominal workouts for decades, but recent research has shown sit-ups can actually cause more problems than they fix.

A standard sit-up requires us to lay on our backs with our knees bent and feet anchored down.  The standard motion is to lift our trunks up to touch our elbows or chest to our knees and return back down.  This motion in itself is actually not working your core or abdominal muscles directly, but rather your hip flexors.  The main problem with this is that your hip flexors attach to the lumbar spine and when performing a sit-up the hip flexors pull forward on your lumbar spine thus lifting the trunk off the ground and can exacerbate low back pain.  Not only is the motion itself bad, but the sit-up also forces us into extreme spinal flexion and when performed repeatedly this can lead to bulging and herniated discs.  Not only is the motion itself bad for you, but it’s not even functional.  When was the last time you needed to forcefully flex your trunk forward? Probably never!  The abdominals and core muscles are meant to stabilize the spine and resist forces to keep the spine in alignment.  Everytime we open a door, use the vacuum, sweep, mop, or lift boxes off the floor, your body has to engage the core muscles to stabilize the trunk to transmit forces through your arms and legs.

So we’ve addressed how bad sit-ups are for your back and how inefficient they are with strengthening the core and abdominal muscles...so what exercise should you do for proper abdominal strengthening?  We’re glad you asked.  Exercises like the Dead Bug Progression or Leg Lowering Drill are great exercises to help build core stability and abdominal strength.  If back pain is slowing you down or you’re concerned about the health of your back, give us a call and schedule an appointment and get back to living the life you want to live.