What Can I Do To Stop Back Pain During Sit Ups?
I’ve recently started doing sit ups again after a long time of, well, laziness. However, I find that when I get to around 50 (though it can be 20, can be 70) I get really bad lower back pain and have to stop.
I am pretty sure this is a matter of technique and I was wondering how I should alter my sit ups and also whether a sit up trainer thing could help.
Thanks!
January 18th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
I had the same problem, it can often happen to short or tall people (damn those middlers!).
First thing to note is that during a standard situp only your stomach should feel any ‘pain’
So, keep your other body parts still, stick your feet under a barbell (this will in fact cheat a small amount since you will use a pivot – working our your thighs but thats not a major issue). Stop your back and arms/shoulders from moving by crossing your arms instead of the whole hands behind the ears crud.
A fine way to solve this is also to punch twice when you reach the top of the situp, (across the body of course, at eye height). Alot of people don’t like situps, we call these lazies, there are other more effective exercises to lose weight, but situps, inverted situps, angled situps are recognised as the best way to gain abdominal strength, that and weights (curls etc)
Do not go all the way down – this is a horrid stress on your back.
Stretch – lie on your front, like a starfish, and pull your limbsand head up the ceiling, for 3 seconds and down again, up and down, up and down.
Do you do situps on your side? – You should.
Do you twist left right at the top of the situp? – You can, this helps to warm up.
Hopefully that helps, doing all these things are once will sort of negate the #experiment#, try one at a time and see what works and is comfortable for you.
Good job for working out and seeking help too btw, most ppl just carry on and hurt themselves =)
January 18th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
I’ve been going to yoga for 5 years now.
And my trainer said that doing sit ups doesn’t help with your abs or losing weight.
She said it causes back pains and cramps.Because of the stretching from your lower abdomen.
So she had me do different work outs that have better results.
The best thing to do is to buy a magazine and most of the time in them they have workouts that all kinds of people do, and I’ve been doing that with my trainer and it comes out with better results and quicker ones than doing daily sit ups.
I’ve lost 30 pounds in the last 3 months.
I didn’t even have to push myself and go through pain.
If you choose to still do sit ups I would put a blanket or thin pillow under your back.
I hope I helped (:
Good luck and have a great Thanksgiving.
January 19th, 2010 at 12:21 am
Here’s the steps to do proper sit ups:
1. Lie on your back on the floor on a mat with your feet flat on the floor and your knees bent.
2. Place your hands on either side of your head or cross your arms in front of your chest and execute the exercise by crunching your abs forward, so as to touch your elbows to your knees.
3. Stay there for about 2 seconds and then gently lower yourself.
4. Flexing your abs and proper breathing is essential – remember that your breathing originates in your abdomen with your diaphragm.
5. Repeat about 20 of these in 3 to 4 sets, but don’t strain yourself – especially if you haven’t done it for a while.
6. Really focus on keeping your midsection (abdominal muscles tight) contracted throughout the entire exercise.
7. To increase the difficulty, you can hold a weighted object to the chest.
Also you need to know how to breathe when exercising.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:07 am
stop doing sit-ups they are a waste of time. I would suggest supersetting or interval training. it combines strength training(for building lean muscle tissue) and cardio(for fat burning). you don’t need any fancy equipment or an expensive gym membership.
example: squats, push-ups, pull-ups, mountain climbers(if you can’t do a push-up or pull-up=> use dumbbells or resistance bands & do a pushing exercise and a pulling exercise instead). do 15 reps of each back to back to back to back without resting. that equals 1 set. rest 30-60 secs. repeat. do 3-5 complete sets. Do this 3-4x/week.
If you noticed there are no sit-ups or crunches in this workout. the best way to burn fat and tighten up your midsection & core is through total body exercises! This style of training doesn’t have you spending in hours and hours a week training either. They are short, fast and effective!
These workouts are great for women or men!
good luck
January 19th, 2010 at 7:02 am
Do crunches instead. And instead of trying to do as many as you can, take 8-10 seconds to raise yourself to the end position and the same time to lower yourself. You’ll find that you only need to do about 5 of these sets a couple of times a week! If interested in more exercises to this technique then look up Slow Burn books.
January 19th, 2010 at 7:08 am
sit ups are bad for your back simply by the way they work.
i would say maybe go to a gym and see a trainer to ask if there is away of doing them properly or an alternative method that gives the same results.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
stop doing sit ups….miraculously the pain will go away….you will get fat again though.