You know there’s envy over a streamlined boxer with sweat running over rock-hard abs. Let’s not forget the sleek bellies and six-packs on the beach each summer. Where do these people get those bodies? How many sit-ups a day will help you achieve those results? It’s more complicated than knowing how many sit-ups you should do daily. Instead, you must understand what sit-ups do for you (and what they can’t do). Then, you can follow sit-up sequences with the right reps to achieve desired results and envious glances.
Sit-ups aren’t useless when you know how to combine them with other workouts, lifestyle choices, and the correct number of reps. Let’s discover how to use sit-ups as part of an exercise routine to achieve your goals. Meanwhile, you’ll find out how many you need soon.
The Cleveland Clinic shares the truth about losing belly fat with sit-ups, and it isn’t what you think it is (25). Sit-ups alone cannot burn belly fat or make you lose weight. Sit-ups tone your obliques, transverse abdominis, and rectus abdominis muscles around your core.
The Cleveland Clinic suggests adding 45-60 minutes of high-intensity cardiovascular exercises most days to help lose belly fat (25). Jump rope, running, power-walking, or action sports will help you lose weight. However, that’s not all you need with sit-ups.
Having a flat belly is a wish for most women and men. You can’t target one body area and must have an excellent body fat percentage to have a flat stomach with abs. Forbes interviewed fitness experts who explained how to lose body fat for a flat belly (2).
Medical News Today has a simple body fat percentage chart to show excellent body fat percentages for flat bellies and abs (4):
The Forbes experts revealed that nutrition plays a key role (2). You must eat more lean protein, less carbs, and stop late-night snacking. Johns Hopkins Medicine also recommends reading labels for added sugars and avoiding processed food (1).
Burning calories is about increasing your intensity. The Mayo Clinic suggests burning 3,500 calories is a pound of fat (6). 50 sit-ups a minute will burn 10 calories (11). Unfortunately, you’d need to do 17,500 sit-ups at the same vigorous intensity to burn 3,500 calories.
Please remember that losing a pound of weight after burning 3,500 calories depends on your body type and activity level (6). Still, you realize how impossible it seems to burn enough calories with sit-ups alone to drop body fat. So, sit-ups burn some calories, but more is necessary.
Read More: How Many Sit Ups To Burn 1000 Calories: Get Ready To Fire Up Every Inch Of Your Core!
The Cleveland Clinic reminds you to add nutrition and cardio workouts to sit-ups to lose belly fat (25). Sit-ups tone your belly and muscles but don’t cut enough calories to help weight loss. Still, doing 8-12 sit-up reps thrice a week with cardio and a proper diet works.
Sit-ups have incredible benefits; you must learn how to use them to support other workouts. The Cleveland Clinic explains how sit-ups tone and strengthen the obliques, rectus abdominis, and transverse abdominis muscles (25).
The Insider also shares how sit-ups tone and strengthen the hip flexors (20). Meanwhile, Physio-Pedia shows how these four muscles belong to the core group (5).
Ultimately, you improve your core muscles with sit-ups, and each muscle worked aids the following:
Ultimately, sit-ups don’t work every core muscle. However, they work major core muscles to tone and strengthen your abdomen while improving flexibility in your hips. That alone can help you benefit from various other workouts during your sequences.
Progression improves intensity and difficulty. Medical News Today describes progressive overload as defining muscles, building strength, and gaining mass (16). Sit-ups don’t cause progressive overload unless you increase your difficulty, intensity, and reps or use weights.
Your muscles grow accustomed to specific routines and are no longer tired as quickly as they did. Researchers at the Second Military Medical University define muscle fatigue as a state where you can’t produce opposing force anymore (15).
Do any of these things to achieve progressive overload during sit-up sequences:
Progressive overload ensures you sustain muscle fatigue to keep seeing results (16).
Sit-ups compress the spine too much and may cause injury and pain. The CDC suggests never exceeding 3,400 pressure Newtons on spinal discs (9). The Elmira Chiropractic Family Clinic says sit-ups generate a minimum of 3,350 Newtons on the lower back (24).
So, please avoid sit-ups if you already live with a back injury or suffer from back pain. However, doing the exercise correctly will help you avoid injury or discomfort. You’ll only use the correct techniques in the following sequences.
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Increase your sets or add weights, as you need progressive overload to enhance your workout sequences. Sit-ups can aid other workouts, so use them in sequences for different goals. Each series will use 8-12 reps for each exercise with progressive increments.
You may begin with assisted sit-ups until you progressively increase the difficulty. However, researchers at Inje University found that morning exercise improves strength training (14). So, let’s focus on a morning workout routine that includes sit-ups to enhance core strength.
Each workout sequence must have sit-ups, but avoid them if you have a back injury. The Elmira Chiropractic Family Clinic reminds you to prevent sit-up injuries (24).
For that reason, please use the following instructions to do sit-ups correctly:
Core strengthening workout routines contain simple yet effective exercises. Harvard Medical School recommends adding planks to a core-strengthening workout (22). Planks also pose a smaller risk of injury to your lower back.
Follow these instructions to do a variation plank:
WebMD calls the V-up one of the best core workouts (12). It equally works the upper and lower abdomen simultaneously. You look like a v while engaging your core muscles.
However, form and technique are everything, so follow these instructions:
Daily sit-up counts of 30 may help beginners slightly flatten their bellies before using progressive overload if you follow a sequence that targets the stomach. Do 30 reps for each exercise before adding advanced overload challenges or increasing the sets.
The Victoria Department of Health doesn’t recommend using two sit-up variations (8). Avoid asking someone to hold your feet down or keep your legs straight before doing sit-ups.
However, this variation can improve core muscle activation and intensity:
Read More: What Muscles Do Sit-Ups Work?
WebMD recommends using reverse crunches to flatten that belly and start toning muscle (19). Also, the reverse crunch can target the lower abs more than sit-ups. However, you shouldn’t touch your feet on the floor.
Follow these instructions to crunch those abs:
The Irish Times recommends dead bugs as a safer sit-up alternative (7). Moreover, dead bugs engage the lower and upper core equally and allow you to progress your load quickly with weights.
So, follow these instructions to add your third exercise for beginners:
Medical News Today suggests a progressive overload for gaining muscle mass and toning abs (16). So, increase your difficulty and finish more reps and sets for well-defined abs. Let’s push to 200 sit-ups daily with two 20-rep, more challenging core exercises.
Use a Swiss ball resistance crunch as a variation to increase intensity and resistance. Also, it has the potential for speed to reach 200 reps more easily. Copenhagen researchers suggest it’s safer and can work the core muscles harder (18).
Follow the instructions closely:
The Insider recommends that mountain climbers enhance endurance and strengthen the core muscles (23). Also, it’s a high-intensity workout that burns calories to reduce body fat.
Here’s how to do the full-body workout that shreds your abs:
The Insider recommends mountain climbers for various reasons (23). Still, adding a twist spider variation will allow you another high-intensity workout for toning your abs.
Follow these instructions for 20 reps to start with because you’ll grow tired initially:
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The Cleveland Clinic confirms that sit-ups can’t help you lose weight alone (25). However, you can add high-intensity cardio workouts and a nutritious diet to lose weight. Do 8-12 sit-up reps thrice weekly with 45-60 minutes of cardio and consume lean protein and fewer carbs.
The University of New Mexico reviewed different exercises and how they activate abdominal muscles (3). Raising your upper trunk in sit-ups results in higher activation in the upper-body abdominal muscles. Raising your pelvis activates the lower abdominal muscles.
In summary, you won’t target the lower abs with sit-ups alone. The reverse crunches raise the pelvis, targeting the lower abs. The university also confirms that all ab muscles are involved in sit-ups, but higher activation happens in the abdominal muscles higher, near the ribs (3).
Medical News Today says a progressive overload builds muscle mass and defines gorgeous muscles (16). Beginners can start with 30 sit-ups daily, but progressive overload requires more reps to achieve muscle fatigue (15). Progressively move toward 200 within routines.
Sit-ups aren’t a miracle workout that tones your abs to match Baywatch. Still, using sit-ups safely and with progressive overload can help. Working sit-ups into sequence routines achieves different results. Choose the one that works for your fitness level or goal.
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