SIT-UP exercise - Safe or dangerous?

Today, I'm going reveal the truth about sit-ups. For 6 packs lovers, sit-ups addicts, fitness enthusiasts, sports athletes as well as general population, this one is for you. Everywhere I go, outdoor parks, gyms, and even videos on internet and exercise articles in the magazines, sit-ups looks familiar and part of the so called '6 packs abs'  or core workout regime. 

I used to do 100 sit-ups every day when I was young, for months and months, and I wondered, where is my 6 packs? Why do I have back pain? All I knew at that time, was to follow what gym members did and I thought it was safe and effective abs exercise to build a nice defined 6 packs abs. Boy, was I wrong after I learnt about the biomechanics of how core muscles, hip flexors, hamstrings and back muscles are directly related and working together as a 'system'. 

Alot of people aren't aware that low back pain, is associated with tight hip flexors. There are other factors which causes back problems but I will focus on sit-ups today. Now, let's start with why sit-ups is not an ideal abs exercise and how does it harm your body. First of all, let's talk about protecting your lower back. When you do sit-ups, it involves repetitive hip and spinal flexion.Why is it dangerous? It's simple. Performing this movement regularly will lead to tight hip flexors. Sitting alot also enables your hip flexors to be short, weak and tight. People who regularly watch TVs, playing online games or computers and office junkies all commonly have tight hip flexors. Hip flexors are a group of muscles that crosses the hip and one of them call psoas attaches to the lumbar spine. When you have tight hip flexors, you have more of a pull on your lower back, and that is not a good thing. When you are in standing position, your body will have a natural lower back curve aka lordosis. But, when you are in sitting position, you lose that natural low back curve and you are essentially sitting on your tailbone and compress the intervertebral discs. And when you perform repetitive sit-ups, it causes 'wear and tear' to the  intervertebral discs, which acts as a cushioning to the vertebrae and the spine. Also, it may cause herniated disc by constant wedging force of the sit-ups motion.  

As you can see in the photo below(herniated disc), the liquid inside the dics actually has started to sip out and impinges on the nerve that run down the spine. That is why you get the severe shooting pain down the back of the legs. Also, when you perform a simple lifting from the floor, especially when it comes to bad lifting without bending your legs and hinging from the hip, you are basically doing a standing version of a sit-up. You could end up hurting your back easily. Sometimes it doesn't have to be something heavy and could simply be just a pencil on the floor.

Now, sit-up exercise, actually perpetuates the flexion dominance position that we tend to take up during the day. What we really for a stronger core and abs, is to build the solid foundation before any other so called  '6 packs abs' movements or exercises. I'm talking about the deep core muscles which provide movement between your upper and lower body. Once you have established and built a strong foundation of your core muscles, then only think of getting a defined sculpted abs. If you build your core on a very weak foundation, you are predisposing yourself to a lifetime of bad problems. Poor foundation leads to increased risks of injuries and everything else. Imagine building a brick house with woods?

So, the million dollar question. How do you build a strong core muscles? Is there any secret to it? From my point of view, there is no secrets to it, but you need to understand what are your core muscles and the foundation of what builds a strong solid core. You must target all your core muscles and not only your abs muscles.  The CORE is not consists of only abs or so called 6 packs muscles! You must stabilize the muscles around your spine before any movement. Remember, stability before movement. This is a very important concept to understand. The lumbar spine is not meant to twist and move, the main function is stability.

Finally, if sit-up exercises is dangerous and not ideal for building a strong core and abs muscles, what types of exercises to perform? Again, foundation is the main priority and emphasize on stability exercises for at least a few weeks before moving into any dynamic movements. There are tons of much safer and effective exercises to target your core and abdominal muscles. Some of them are front and side plank in static holding position. The whole point here, is to avoid repetitive hip and spinal flexion, as well as recruit all core muscles and not only one muscle group. Most people misunderstood that the CORE, is just the abs muscles and what do they do? They keep hitting the abs muscles performing primarily sit-ups or crunches exercises day in day out. As a result, your body developed muscles imbalances and that is definitely not good for your health, body, performance, or any or your regular strength or movement trainings including sports.

To recap, why performing sit-up exercise is a bad idea and dangerous?

- Creates a lot of stress and load on your spine and intervertebral discs.
- Only strengthens one group of CORE muscles, e.g rectus abdominus.
- Creates dangerous muscle imbalances.

Herniated disc, liquid of the disc sipping out and impinges the nerve

Hip Flexor 

Typical sit-up exercise. "Oh no, my lower back hurts!"

Clinical Biomechanics Journal:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11114441