How To Do Sit Ups Correctly, Benefits, Variations & Workouts

Master the Art of Sit Ups: Correct Form, Amazing Benefits, and Exciting Variations

By Popular Health StaffUpdated January 1st, 2024

How To Do Sit Ups Correctly

This is a guide on how to do sit ups correctly to achieve toned sculpted abs!

Plus a list of free workouts, muscles worked, its benefits, 14 videos for variations of sit ups & tips on how to achieve a flat tummy.

Scroll to the end of the article to access everything.

Printable Workouts That Use Sit Ups

Other Ab Workouts

What Muscles Do Sit Ups Work

Sit ups strengthen and tone the abdominal muscles and a lot more such as:

Obliques
Hip Flexors
Your Legs
Chest
Neck
Lower Back

The wide variety of muscles that sit-ups target is amazing. Single exercises you can do at home can work out the entire body!

Sit Up Benefits

The health benefits of sit-ups are quite vast, which is impressive for an exercise that requires nothing but your own body.

Core strength
Improve metabolism due to improved muscle mass
Better balance and stability
Increased flexibility
Strengthens the spine for improved posture
Reduced risk of back pain and injury
Help eliminate muscle spasms
Diaphragm strengthening
Don't need a gym

You will save a lot of money by creating a workout that incorporates a bodyweight exercise.

Modified Sit Ups

Switch up the types of sit-ups you do is important if you do them daily.

To see maximum improvement do not do the same sit up exercise every day. If you do the same ab exercise daily, muscles, joints and ligaments will not have time to properly heal.

Sit-ups can be altered to enhance their intensity, or to decrease it for beginners.

Weights can be held on the chest to improve the amount of effort you must exert, and thus increasing the intensity.

You can also place your legs up on a bed or a bench to perform a sit-up, which requires a lot more lifting to complete a single rep..

Types Of Sit Ups

Before we get to the video demo of how to do a traditional sit up, see below different types of sit ups you can perform to switch up the variety so you don’t overwork your muscles.

Traditional Sit Up

See below how to do sit ups properly.

Lie down on your back on a mat.
Bend your legs and place your feet firmly on the ground.
Without pulling your neck place them hands behind your ears.
Curl your upper body all the way up toward your knees.
Slowly, lower yourself down, returning to your starting point. Inhale as you lower.

Tips When Doing Sit-Ups

Keep your hips, knees and feet aligned with each other. With knees bent and your feet flat on the ground.

Contract your abs do not put strain on your neck and shoulders.

Ease into training your abs. Don't do too much if you have been sedentary for a long period of time. Don’t push yourself so hard that you feel pain.

Breathe deeply for the duration of the sit-up.

Don’t do sit-ups if you have a bone condition such as osteoporosis.

Furthermore, sit-ups will not harm a fetus during the first trimester. However, pregnant women should avoid doing sit-ups later in their pregnancy.

Lying on your back can lower your blood pressure, which will inhibit the amount of blood and oxygen your baby will receive.

Exercise Ball Sit Ups

Use of an exercise ball will increase your stability.

Sit on a stability ball with your feet flat on the floor.
Slowly lean back to bring your shoulders, back, and tailbone to the ball.
Adjust your legs so your knees are directly above your ankles and your thighs are parallel to the floor.
Position your mid-back at the top of the ball.
Interlace your fingers at the base of your skull, squeeze your shoulder blades together, and draw your elbows back.
Exhale as you engage your core and bring your torso towards your thighs, lifting your upper back off the ball.
Pause in this position, and then inhale to slowly lower yourself back onto the ball.