# Sit-Up

URL: https://heatsy.app/ex/sit-up

Also known as: Situp, Full Sit-Up, Prisoner Sit-Up, Sit-Ups, Abdominal Sit-Up

Body region: Core

## Muscles

- Main: Rectus Abdominis
- Helps: External Oblique, Internal Oblique, Iliopsoas, Rectus Femoris
- Holds: Transversus Abdominis

## Technique

1. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat, anchored under a pad or held by a partner if needed.
2. Cross your arms over your chest or rest your fingertips lightly beside your head.
3. Curl your head and shoulders off the floor, then keep rolling up until your torso is upright.
4. Lower yourself back down one vertebra at a time until your shoulders touch the floor.

### Cues

- Lead with the chest, not the chin.
- Exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down.
- Control the descent instead of dropping back.

### Common mistakes

- Pulling on the head or neck with the hands.
- Using momentum to swing up from the floor.
- Arching the lower back off the floor at the start of the rep.

## Variations

- [Three-Quarter Sit-Up](https://heatsy.app/ex/three-quarter-sit-up)

## Alternatives

- [Crunch](https://heatsy.app/ex/crunch)
- [Hanging Leg Raise](https://heatsy.app/ex/hanging-leg-raise)