3/4 Sit-Up

How to do it

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
2. Cross your arms over your chest or rest your fingertips beside your ears.
3. Curl your shoulders and upper back off the floor and keep going until you are about three-quarters of the way up.
4. Stop before you are fully upright — the tension should never come off.
5. Lower under control until the shoulder blades approach the floor.
6. Start the next repetition before the back fully settles.

Common mistakes

• Sitting all the way up. The whole point is stopping short of upright, where the abdominals would otherwise get a rest with the torso stacked over the hips.
• Letting the shoulder blades rest at the bottom. Touching lightly and going keeps the tension; settling turns a set into a series of separate sit-ups.
• Pulling on the head with the hands. Fingertips beside the ears, neck in line with the spine.
• Anchoring the feet to reach further. Held feet let the hip flexors contribute more, and the shortened top is meant to keep the work in the abdominals rather than the hips.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Abs

Secondary

• Hip Flexors