5 Reasons You Should Avoid Doing Sit-Ups

"Change means that what was before wasn't perfect. People want things to be better."
Esther Dyson

It's time to change your abdominal training program, change it for the better. It's time to say No to sit-ups and by doing so allow room for safer and more effective exercises that will fortify and strengthen your abs and spine.

The reason you may ask? The exercise poses to much of a risk compared to the benefits and no matter how you put it, getting hurt is not a lot of fun.

Here are 5 reasons why you should avoid doing sit ups:

1. You can't spot reduce, you can only spot build.

I know you want a flatter stomach or wash board abs so it may seem logical to do sit-ups and crunches to help your tummy fat go away. Fat loss doesn't work that way. You can build the muscles of the abs but that does not reduce the fat storage sitting above them.

Fat loss can only be accomplished through a sound nutrition and comprehensive exercise program.

2. Over training one movement pattern at the expense of others is a sure-fire way to create muscle imbalances.

The body was designed to move in many ways. No where in the body is that more apparent than with the abs. They help you bend, extend and twist in countless ways.

The body strives to perfect a hundred different movement patterns that activate a countless number of muscles.

By performing the same movement over and over again, like crunches and sit-ups, you set the body up for repetitive stress injuries.

These mall movements can create muscle imbalances in the torso. This creates a sub-optimal environment that can decrease the function and the potential of your body. In worst case scenarios it can cause low back pain and more.

3. The Abs do more than flex the spine, they do so much more.

The abs have two primary jobs.

The first one is bracing the body. You brace every time you reach, push, pull, throw, swing or kick. Any athletic movement requires bracing at some time during the movement and in most cases, twice. You also brace during every day activities like when you pick up an object from the floor with one hand and even when you're only opening a door.

The second primary job is to create the bridge between the legs and upper body to transfer power. Take a tennis fore-hand swing for example. The upper body and trunk rotates back in preparation to hit the ball, then the hips will rotate forward creating power for the swing. The the abs will then brace creating the 'bridge' that will work to rotate the torso and arms forward to strike the ball.

This is just one example of how the abs are designed to function. If you look closely you can find many examples of this function through out our daily and athletic lives.

4. Your spine flexes all day long

We flex our spine all day long. A typical day for the average person starts by waking up and sitting at breakfast with one's spine flexed (bent forward). Then this person commutes to work for an hour and then sits at work for eight hours all with the spine flexed. After a day of sitting, the individual drives home and eats dinner flexed and then sits on the couch and watches a couple hours of TV with the spine in a flexed position.

There should be one place the abs and spine should not have to flex and that is during your fitness program.

The health of your back depends on your ability to balance the work load, movements and stress that you place on it.

5. Sit-Ups produce the same force in the disc that causes disc bulges and disc herniation.

It's estimated that 80% of the population will see a doctor or chiropractor at some point in their life due to back pain.

According to Stuart McGill, a professor of spine bio-mechanics at the University of Waterloo, sit ups produce the exact same force in the spine that can create disc bulge and disc herniation, two of the most common low back injuries.

Does it make sense to perform exercises that can create common back injuries?

I didn't think so either.

The Bottom Line

These are the 5 reasons of why you need to stop doing sit-ups immediately.

In it's place start using planks and leg lifts to strengthen your core. These two types of abdominal exercises are much safer on your spine and there are countless variations and modification that you can use.

Take these recommendations and apply them today in your program, your back will thank you for it.

If you found this article helpful, you might like to visit http://www.precisionfitnesstrainer.com/ where you will find more life changing fitness articles that will help you transform your body today.

Edward Scaduto is a Fitness Coach. He helps his clients change their lives one healthy habit at a time.

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Reasons for Overtraining

Overtraining, as the name suggests, is the act of training your body too much. Many people have the misconception that in order to achieve a well-toned body one must spend hours performing extensive workouts. This is far removed from the truth and various media projections could be held responsible for propagating this belief. It is true that people who are involved in doing workouts want to get immediate results but this is not always possible. So it is important to bear in mind that patience is essential while working out because a strong and well-toned body cannot be obtained in a short span of time.

Common symptoms of overtraining

Overtraining occurs when there is an imbalance between training and recovery. Some symptoms that indicate that you are overtraining are as follows:

• Feeling tired and fatigued most of the times
• Losing body weight rapidly
• Decreasing performance level
• Increasing number of infections
• Rapidly increasing heart rate during exercise

What causes overtraining?

Extending each training session beyond 1.5 hours: A recent research has revealed that training for 3 to 4 hours every day is as good as training for a maximum of 1 to 1.5 hours. If you want your muscles to grow, you must allow it some time to rest and sleep. When you are doing extensive workouts your body consumes a lot of glucose. In order to maintain the blood sugar level at a stable state the body's stress hormone forces the occurrence of gluconeogenesis on the muscle tissue. When the muscle tissue is broken down it leads to release of amino acids in the blood stream which in turn helps the liver to synthesize glucose. The glucose allows your brain to function properly. Thus, keeping your workouts short will ensure that you do not end up eating away your own muscles.

Improper Eating Habits: If you are involved in intense workout sessions the energy reserves of your body are being used up constantly. If they are not replaced, you are likely to suffer as muscle contractions are not possible without sufficient glucose. Consuming enough carbohydrates is essential for someone who does extensive weight training.

Lack of Rest and Sleep: Those who perform extensive exercises must sleep for at least 8 to 10 hours every day. You need to give your muscles enough rest so that they get time to grow and repair. A proper training program entails that you train extensively for two days and then either rest or perform some light aerobic exercises for the next few days. It is important to give your body parts a rest of 48 hours between subsequent training sessions.

Ways to avoid overtraining

• Get a personal trainer and chalk out a proper training program for yourself
• Ensure that there is variety in your workouts
• Do not train any particular muscle group too much. Make sure you have a balanced workout.
• Include some cardio as well as sports activities in your training program.
• Never get too involved in your workouts. Remember to catch up on some rest.

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The Top 5 Reasons You Should Invest in a Personal Trainer

1) You Need Help Getting Started

If you have never done exercise before, or even if you have but you're a little unsure of where to start then investing in a personal trainer will benefit you greatly. They will be able to give you the correct exercises and technique, make sure your working at the right intensity according to your ability and they will help you progress as you learn to adapt to the exercises so you don't hit a plateau.

2) You're Not Seeing Results in Your Current Training Routine

Have you been using the same old routine week in and week out for a while and not seeing any results anymore? Investing in a personal trainer will ensure that you never do the same workout twice. They have a wide variety of exercises in their knowledge base which will keep your workouts ever changing. With dumbbells alone there are hundreds of exercises that can be done, let alone other equipment such as boxing pads, gym stick and medicine balls. Put all these together and your routine will be ever changing, removing any chance of a plateau again.

3) You're Bored With the Same Workouts You're Doing at the Gym

Similar to the above point, any good personal trainer will make sure you're not bored in your sessions by offering a variety of exercises and equipment. Mobile personal training has proven to be just as if not more effective then working out in a gym because you can train using functional exercises, using your entire body rather than being stuck to a specific machine.

This fact alone will ensure boredom during your workouts will be a thing of the past.

4) You Need Accountability and Motivation

I often hear clients say the reason they pay me is for that last rep, while it may come across as a joke there is a very real point to this. When you're in the gym on your own it is very easy to just stop when an exercise gets hard, but when your with your personal trainer they will push you to complete those last 1-2 repetitions and then keep going. Imagine how much better your results will be completing those last few reps, and then some!

5) You Have a Specific Injury or Illness

If you have a specific injury, more often than not they can be healed with the proper training. Training on your own can often become very dangerous if you are trying to heal a specific injury, but if your personal trainer works alongside with your doctor and/or physio then they can ensure you have a full recovery.

To find out more on how a personal trainer can help you with you health and fitness goals, click here

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