Situps

[nicco264]

I am considering joining the Guard and I was looking for advice on situps. My lower back starts to hurt like **** when doing situps. Am I doing these wrong or did I lift with my back when I was younger too much?

[plano2001]

I too get a painful lower back when doing situps, but this is greatly multiplied when doing push-ups. I asked my personal trainer at the gym about this, he told me it's caused by a lack of something called "core strength". Basically I spent way too much time on the treadmill and the machines, and not enough on a basic workout.

If you have a gym membership and they have those big giant rubber balls (sometimes they might be in a studio where they do a fitness class), you can use them as a strength training tool until you build up enough core strength to do it without the ball. For situps, basically sit with yourself centered over the ball, cross your arms over your chest, and then slowly walk yourself forward with your legs only until you are perfectly parallel to the floor. Hold for a moment, and then walk yourself backwards while lifting your upper body with the ball's movement until you are back in a sitting position. Do this 20 times, rest, and do another set each day. For pushups, use the rubber ball. Lay yourself over the ball and walk yourself out using your hands until you're parallel to the floor. Do a pushup, then walk yourself back until your chest is on the ball again. Then repeat. Like the situps, try to do 20, rest, then do another set.

It hurts like **** at first, but after awhile becomes a lot easier. Then you can move to doing pushups and situps without the help of the ball and you shouldn't be experiencing that lower back pain.

[ade123]

you may want to try stretching before and after you do your situps. That really helped me a lot; I had a similar problem.