Why the Army Banned Sit-Ups and What You Should Know
Today’s topic is “what's the problem with sit-ups?”
Army Banned Sit-Ups
I decided to go down the rabbit hole of all the articles I could find debunking sit-ups. In 2015, the Army eliminated doing sit-ups that were part of their fitness test. 50% of soldiers’ injuries were due to sit-ups. How unbelievable is that? And the fact that they could even track it is even more incredible. You can dig around online and find the article, but there are other studies.
Pigs’ Spines Matter Too
There was another study by a biomechanist at the University of Waterloo, Stuart McGill, who studied pig cadavers. Random, but he flexed their spines in a similar way that you would do a sit-up. And he did it for hours at a time. So a little excessive, I know. He found the discs in your spine; think of the grape, the jelly between the vertebrae, which was squeezed to the point where they bulged and created herniated discs. If you have a herniated disc or know anybody who's had a slipped disc, it's excruciating, pushes a lot on the spine, and causes a lot of back pain. I'm not going to hundred percent say that my clients experience herniated discs from doing sit-ups. Still, I think if you do them excessively, anything to excess, and don't cross-train your abdominal choices, I think you could experience low back issues.
Sit-Ups Are SO 2000
We're in February, and I’m curious how many people have kept up with their new fitness regime. Millions of Americans throw themselves into high-intensity workout classes to get fit and healthy after months of inactivity. Next thing you know, four weeks later, they're starting to suffer. If there were one exercise I could put a giant billboard up in every gym as a health warning, it would probably be for sit-ups, which is why…
When I say that sit-ups are probably one of the worst things for your back, that might be an overstatement, but they are a spinal incident waiting to happen. And what's crazy is that the sit-up used to be the gold standard of fitness. When they think of strengthening their core, most people immediately think, “I need to do some sit-ups.”
What's the problem with sit-ups? Here's the cliff notes version… Sit-ups and I'm talking full sit-ups, like when you lie down on the floor, come up to your knees, come back down, activate the rectus abdominis, your six-pack, and many superficial core muscles. When these muscles get too strong, they’re not strong; they’re too tight.
I'm assuming that when people do sit-ups or crunches, they do high repetition because they think they'll get better results if they do more. If you do many sit-ups, you create an abnormally tight rectus abdominus, and many people will have a distended abdomen. When people do sit-ups and bulge, they perform a Valsalva maneuver, which is bearing down, and their abdominal wall pushes outward. The opposite look they want.
Dysfunctional vs. Reflexive Core
The results people want are six-pack abs, right? They want a flat abdominal wall. One of the best things you can do to obtain this is to hang. Believe it or not, hanging exercises are the best for creating abdominal strength with length. A flat stomach aside, what we want is a reflexive core. According to some people's standards, the six-pack is maybe pretty, but really, what that’s showing is an overly tight abdominal wall.
If you checked out my video that I did a while back about why fitness pros/Pilates instructors are more at risk for cesarean births, this is why. When we go for that aesthetic of the six-pack, we, unfortunately, are setting ourselves up for a dysfunctional abdominal wall and, therefore, a dysfunctional core. We could set ourselves up for pelvic floor injury, low back issues, and diastasis, an abnormal separation of your abdominal wall.
If you consider your torso a container, the pressure inside the container must be appropriate. When you breathe, the forces of the container change. They increase when you inhale, and they decrease when you exhale. This means the container needs to spread and expand accordingly, but if your abdominal wall is rigid and tight, it won't let it expand like it needs to. Then, unfortunately, something else is going to give. So if tight abs don’t provide the space to expand, the center line of it gives (diastasis), or perhaps something in the back has to provide it (herniated disc), or maybe something up the chain gives (hiatal hernia). Just think of us as a pressure cooker that needs to have suppleness around the container.
Do you want a flat abdominal wall, or do you want a reflexive core? And when I talk about a flat abdominal wall, I will say that might be what you want. I want a reflexive core. I want my pressure system to be supple and strong in every direction, and I've given up the need for a six-pack abdominal wall. But If that's something you seek and essential to you, you should first practice hanging.
Are Planks Better Than Sit-Ups?
Regarding the US Army, they replaced the sit-ups with planks. Planks seem to be the new gold standard for abdominal health and strength. Many websites discuss how planks teach the abdominal wall how to stop you because that is more advantageous. If you were in combat, and somebody was coming at you, you needed the abdominal wall to brace and prevent you from being able to be pushed back against something.
I get triggered when people talk about a plank being a functional movement. When are we ever in a plank anywhere in our day? Why would I need to be in a plank if I were out in nature? What would cause me to need to go into a plank position? I honestly can't come up with anything. I don't know if you can; let me know, but a plank is not functional. It might strengthen a lot, and I think it's an excellent isometric choice, but it’s an upper-body workout with your legs and core incorporated.
The Army also added some pushing and pulling sequences. Now they are onto something! Functional movements include walking, squatting, hanging, crawling, and jumping. Things you do out in nature or moving through life. Things that our ancestors used to do. So hanging. That is a functional movement, and it also helps to create a reflexive core. When you hang from your arms, your stomach keeps the lower half of your body attached to the upper half of your body. It's in a very stretched position, so there's even more load than the tissues are accustomed to. Our legs are pretty heavy, especially if you have long legs; your stomach works even harder to keep your contents together.
Breathing is a Core Exercise
I talked about our pressure system and keeping it mobile and supple starts with our breath. Believe it or not, we have good breathing patterns to get the best core activation. If you wear glasses and clean them by fogging them, you're making a “ha” sound. If you do this as a prolonged exhale, you'll feel your core kick on at the tail end of your breath. So practice that. Take a deep breath in, then exhale that soft “ha” sound, and feel that internal support. Keeping that in mind, come into a cat position so you're on your hands and your knees. Let your belly go. It's everything we tell you not to do. Many of us hold our tummies in all day because we think it makes us look better, but it's creating a bit of dysfunction in our torso because tensing and holding that shape all day long is not reflexive. It's like holding your belly in a cast.
Breathe Before You Move
So let your belly go (like the pic above). It probably feels uncomfortable and not aesthetically pleasing, but don't worry. No judgment. Let your belly hang, let your lumbar curve, pushing actively through your arms, and then you will do that same “ha” breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Breathe the word" ha,” and you will feel your abdominal wall recruit and all that tone at the end. Now, your abdominal wall is set up for success.
When you go to layer on movement, that breathing is your foundation. You want to do the “ha” breathing, where you can feel how the fibers of the abdominal wall naturally come together. The muscular tissues come together organically, and that's all the abdominal tension you need. Then you layer on stuff. If you go to my ABLab video, you'll see the exercise sequence that I layer onto the cat exercise. Start with the “ha” breathing to create a reflexive core. You're organizing the abdominal wall, which is significantly supported in your torso. Then, it gives you better results when working your core because you're building it into other movements.
If you weight lift, do lunges, squats, deadlifts, or bicep curls, think about adding a little “ha.” Kick on your core support, then do whatever you're doing to set you up better. Want a tip? As you can breathe out, try to do the exercise closer to the end of the breath. Not at the beginning of the exhale. As you’ll notice, when you exhale, the abdominal fibers get closer together towards the end of the exhale. That delay gives you excellent core support. As you breathe out, the fibers contract and come together, and you'll get even more core support. And I think that's what we're all looking for.
Hopefully, all that info and breathing tip helps. Why sit-ups are no longer the gold standard of fitness. Check out my ABLab video because it's a good core exercise. It's short, practical, gets to the upper and lower fibers of the abdominals, and I think it's getting to what we ultimately want: a robust and reflexive core.