Sit-Up

Core · core · intermediate

Start

Finish

How to do it

Lie on your back with knees bent and feet anchored or flat, cross the arms over the chest, and curl up one vertebra at a time until the chest is near the thighs, then reverse the same way.

Muscles worked

Primary: core · Also works: hip_flexors

Equipment

No equipment

Common mistakes

Throwing the arms forward and snapping up with momentum instead of rolling up segment by segment
Anchoring the feet and pulling yourself up with the hip flexors, which loads the lower back
Slamming back down and bouncing off the floor into the next rep

Variations

Butterfly sit-up with the soles of the feet together
Decline bench sit-up for more range
Weighted sit-up holding a plate on the chest

Can't do this one? Swap it for

Take care: ABROFIT automatically removes this movement for anyone who has flagged a lower back or neck or hip problem. If that's you, use one of the swaps above and speak to a physio before loading it.

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