Death of a... Sit Up

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Throughout this post you will not find Willy Loman, or Biff, Linda, Happy, or Bernard. This post will not discuss the destruction/ attack of the American dream but rather my personal destruction of one the most common exercises in most individual's exercise arsenal. The Sit Up. I realize that not everyone will agree with this post and that's fine. My foray into the world of training started much like everyone else. A solid 5 day split, culminating in the weekly Superbowl of days. Friday = Biceps/Triceps/Situps = Awesomeness...There I admitted it, as painful as it was to say. I would give a sizable sum of money for a DeLorean DMC-12 to enter my room right now...now...now. Guess not but my point is that it's okay if you have followed a similar routine before, or are still on this sort of program it's never too late to change.
The idea of discarding the sit up in any of my programs was something that first occurred to me while on a wrestling mat doing hundreds of sit ups during practice. As I mindlessly worked I kept thinking that this was so useless for wrestling. Not core strength, that is one of the most important aspects but repetitive sit ups. This sparked a Google search, and a cup of coffee later I was overwhelmed with industry leaders that shared my view point. I have had time to sift through the data and create my own opinion based on personal experience and research. It is as follows (sub categorized into a few easily accessible areas)

Anatomy

In order to explore any concept we must first have at least a basic understanding.For example, I know my car goes forward when in the proper gear and I push the pedal, so we can now discuss the mechanics behind that. The same philosophy applies for your body, in order to understand why Sit Ups are not the most intelligent form of core training we must first understand the spine's (main joint of movement during the sit up) general make up. The spine is made up of a 7 Cervical, 12 Thoracic, and 7 Lumbar vertebrae. The spine has a natural curve (kyphosis (outward) in the thoracic section and lordosis (inward) in the lumbar section. Each vertebrae is composed of both hard and soft bone and they are essentially barrels with process protruding off the back/side.  Separating each vertebrae is a gel like disc. The spine is made up of multiple joints all interacting with each other and the bodies muscles to stabilize the spine and take it through different ranges of motion (ROM), flexion, extension, rotation etc.

Sit ups, and any exercise that puts repetitive stress on the spine through flexion or extension is causing negative effects. The spine's role is to support the bodies movement, both athletically and in everyday life, in a neutral position. It is not designed for repetitive flexion or extension and the motion is only causing tissue damage as a result of the stress. The idea of lumbar mobility as an important training objective is extremely outdated, and as a professional and practitioner the emphasis needs to be placed on stability.

Sport Performance

The act of performing a sit up or other exercise with repetitive flexion does not transfer to on-field performance. I am tough pressed to think of  a sport that requires you to perform that repetitive motion. Nearly every sport will require spine flexion or extension at some point but it is not repetitive motion. The athlete has entered that flexion in order to make make a play and will be returning to a neutral spine as soon as possible. IE. Loose ball on the basketball court, the athlete bends over via the lumbar spine to pick up the ball, but their spine returns to neutral immediately to make the pass down court. I spent some time watching gymnastics ground routines today to view the different ranges of motion. Although the athletes enter extreme flexion and extension during various stages I noticed, at least with the ground routines that their high impact moves both begin and end with a neutral spine.
Other sports will require constant flexion for a prolonged period of time, cycling for example, and the body can handle these stresses as long as adaptation occurs at a constant rate or faster rate than tissue damage. I would liken it to a tiny hole in your bike tire. As long as you pump more air in then leaks out your bike will keep rolling. But, if the hole enlarges (Increased load, or more more repetitions) and you forget the the pump one day, best buy a bus pass.

Training

I promised at the start of this article that I would not destroy the American dream, just the sit up. We have now briefly covered the anatomy and the poor transfer to on-field performance so like Willy Loman you may be a little lost on what type of exercises to perform. We just acknowledged that the body is required to enter these ranges of motion during competition so how should we best train for this action. Train the core for resisting motion (flexion, extension, rotation). The core needs to be able to stay strong despite dynamic activity. Emphasis needs to be put on the entire core not just the muscles in isolation, no muscle works in isolation and quite frankly if you have a six pack but can't hold a plank for more than 30 seconds it might as well be a six pack of beer for all the functional strength it is providing.
The focus is most often centered on the spine flexors, the rectus abdominis (six pack)  for both aesthetic reasons and for "sport" training. Constant training in this manner will lead to a tight anterior core and will cause the back to round as a result. The complete opposite of that strong neutral spine that is desired. Instead, focus on stability exercises. Prone planks and side planks are both great examples of a equipment free exercises that will challenge the core to maintain its stable and neutral position. If you have access to a cable or keiser machine I would suggest kneeling and split axe chops and lifts. Exercise such as Russian or Landmine twists are also good with specific emphasis on keeping our hips facing forward and controlling the weight through the full range of motion. There are lots of great exercises that keep the spine in a neutral position and have more on-field relevance than the typical sit up and its variations, most of which are very basic but challenging.

Summary
I am not saying don't flex your spine ever, I am saying be careful in how you do. It is designed to remain neutral and resist motion especially in the lumbar section.When you are thinking about the spine think stability not mobility As stated early I do not expect everyone to agree, and very few of you might but that's my philosophy, if you have any questions or want to talk further shoot me an email at avilaca90@gmail.com.

Coach V.

"Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts" Gable

Works Cited
-Stuart McGill , "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance"
-Eric Cressey, "Low Back Savers"
-StrengthCoach.com