Why Sit-Ups are an Outdated Exercise
Sit-ups have long since been a staple in many people’s workout routines. We all did sit-ups in elementary school P.E. class, the army utilizes sit-ups, and they are a great exercise. Right? Wrong.
Let me ask you this, at what point during your life do you ever forcefully flex your trunk forward? The answer is probably never. Perhaps you flex your trunk forward when you get out of bed, although most people turn to their sides and push themselves up using their arms. Sit-ups are not a “functional” exercise for the core. Our abdominal muscles are not meant to flex our trunk forward. Instead, they are designed to resists forces, transmit forces, and keep us upright. Each time you push a door open, you are using your abdominal muscles to prevent the reciprocal force of the door from pushing you backward. When you squat down to pick up a heavy object, your core muscle engage to help stabilize your trunk and transmit forces from your legs through to your arms. Our abdominal muscles are much more than just trunk flexors.
One of the great leading researchers of the spine and spinal biomechanics, Dr. Stuart McGill, will tell you that doing sit-ups over and over is the best way for you to herniate a disc. Sounds like a great exercise to do then right? Probably not. If you want to read some of the research conducted by Dr. Stuart McGill, you can find two of the studies here and here. Does this mean we should never round our back? Of course not, we have the ability to flex our trunk for many reasons. However, the movement of taking the spine through repetitive full flexion is not an ideal way for you to train your abdominals. It’s not worth the risk of causing an injury to your lower back. There are much better alternative exercises to train your core besides sit-ups.
For examples of alternative exercises, go check out our Instagram page @physiostrength.
If you would like more information on how to better train your core or how to get rid of your low back pain, please come visit us for a physical therapy evaluation at PhysioStrength Physical Therapy!
Sincerely,
Dr. Connor Naccarato, DPT, MTC, CSCS