Are Sit Ups Bad For Your Back?

Something about sit ups you maybe didn't know about...
It's very interesting:

Sit ups can be bad for the lower back and do not in-fact strengthen the core long term. Depending on how functional your body is, will determine whether sit ups can be a damaging exercise to do. If you are a very fit and athletic person, they won’t cause harm, but they are an un-beneficial exercise to be practicing and there are so many other beneficial exercises to be doing. In-fact they really damage the lower back Vertebrae long-term. There are so many better exercises you could be focusing on.

• If for example:
• You do Administration as a career like most average people do all day long. You constantly sit in hip flexion, meaning your hip flexors are contracted and your glutes are relaxed. This is exactly why sit ups would most probably cause lower back pain as it is just adding to the same movement in which you do every day anyway. Pulling on the lower back and just adding more tightness to the hips, rather than working on strengthening the glutes and stretching your hip flexors out to help reduce lower back pain. It will just contribute to more lower back pain and damage.

Ever since I in-fact took sit ups and crunches out of my weekly core routine 4 years ago when I learnt about it in my sports therapy studies and focused more on isometric, transverse movements and activation exercises based around glutes, lower back, obliques and abdomen, my trunk strength improved much more rapidly. Even in the period in which I was injured from figure skating, when I went back into skating my core strength was so much stronger compared to before. My glutes were firing much faster too which lead to much better posture.

• It is not really a good exercise to repetitively do because it constantly contracts the hip flexor muscles which generates a lot of pulling on the lower Lumbar vertebrae.
• The Hip flexor muscles attach onto the lower Vertebrae as shown here in this diagram. Every time they are put into contraction on the upwards phase of a sit up, they pull on the lower back. We already naturally do a lot of bending and straightening of the back in our day to day life’s already which is why a lot of professionals argue that it is a worthless exercise to be doing in the gym and can be one of the reasons why lower back pain can come about from going to the gym.
• Could potentially cause disc impingement in the long term in some people depending on genetics. If weekly put into your workout routine at a large amount it could be harmful, especially with added heavy weights. Due to the constant pulling from the hip flexor into the Lumbar Vertebrae and flexion and extension of the spine from the repetitive movement.
• As a sit up goes from extension of the spine to flexion of the spine. This is what can cause the constant rubbing of the Bursa within the vertebrae. Most average people will be weak in their lower back, so they are more likely to be overarching their back on the lying down phase of the sit up. It is very damaging to go from an over arched back position straight into a flexed position repetitively.
• It is not a movement which will benefit you to train your body to do as it will teach your body a false muscle memory pattern of moving through. It can lead to poorer posture.

Crunches However can be sometimes used for isolation purposes. If someone has a dysfunction and needs to temporarily teach their Abdomen how to fire first, then it can be an exercise useful for rehabilitation purposes on a short-term basis. Otherwise it is really a worthless exercise to perform if you have a balanced functioning body.

Here is a study to read:

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160418-the-surprising-downsides-of-sit-ups

A few exercises which you can try instead:

1. Reverse Plank:

Look up to the ceiling, point your toes, and keep your arms and legs straight. Keep your entire body strong and form a straight line from your head to your heels. Squeeze your core and try to pull your belly button back toward your spine. Hold the position for up to 30 seconds:

This exercises it excellent for improving your trunk strength and especially your upper back posture. It is more beneficial than a plank, although variation planks are of-course excellent isometric exercises to perform too. Perform this exercises up to three- or four-times round.

2. Plank One arm Extension:
   Begin in a plank position with your weight resting on your forearms and your body in a completely straight line from your shoulders to your ankles (you can start from your knees to modify the exercises). Step 2: Tighten your abs and without letting your hips shift, raise one arm out straight in front of you. Pause, then lower it back to the starting position.

Again, this is another exercise which is excellent for working on your trunk strength and isolating the muscles in your back which are responsible for keeping a good upper back posture.

3. Banded or Cable Woodchoppers:

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and reach to one side with your free hand to grab the same handle. With arms fully extended, pull the handle transversely across your body to your other side while rotating your torso. Keep your feet and hips facing forwards parallel to the front and keep your legs straight. Return to the start position slowly under control. Exhale on the contractions.

• Pall Off Press:

Grasp your cable in both hands at chest level. Brace your core, keeping your spine straight, knees slightly bent and hips dipped back a bit and press the cable in front of your chest. Hold for a beat, arms fully extended. Return your hands to your chest and repeat for 8 to 10 reps on each side.