Holding those legs down

"Richard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm just a fitness beginner: Not sure which group to pose this question,
but when you do situps on a mat on the floor in the home, you need your
feet/legs holding down. How do you do that? Can you buy something to
stop your feet/legs coming up off the floor? TIA.

When I wrestled the coaches insisted we did situps without
anything holding our legs down ... apparently you used different
muscles with your legs held (IIRC hip flexors). You don't go all
the way up either ... above a 45 degree angle you're letting your
muscles relax.

Having said that, I only lift weights to complement athletic
training; I've no idea if sports training is relevant to serious
lifters.

John Smith said:

"Richard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm just a fitness beginner: Not sure which group to pose this question,
but when you do situps on a mat on the floor in the home, you need your
feet/legs holding down. How do you do that? Can you buy something to
stop your feet/legs coming up off the floor? TIA.

When I wrestled the coaches insisted we did situps without
anything holding our legs down ... apparently you used different
muscles with your legs held (IIRC hip flexors). You don't go all
the way up either ... above a 45 degree angle you're letting your
muscles relax.

Having said that, I only lift weights to complement athletic
training; I've no idea if sports training is relevant to serious
lifters.

Stick your toes under a closed door. Some couches work too. Or get
this http://tinyurl.com/6zvyv

John Smith said:

Richard wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm just a fitness beginner: Not sure which group to pose this question,
but when you do situps on a mat on the floor in the home, you need your
feet/legs holding down. How do you do that? Can you buy something to
stop your feet/legs coming up off the floor? TIA.

Quoted message said:

When I wrestled the coaches insisted we did situps without
anything holding our legs down ... apparently you used different
muscles with your legs held (IIRC hip flexors). You don't go all
the way up either ... above a 45 degree angle you're letting your
muscles relax.

You go up and fully contract the abs by curling the torso up
on the way up. And letting the muscles briefly relax isn't
necessarily bad.

Quoted message said:

Having said that, I only lift weights to complement athletic
training; I've no idea if sports training is relevant to serious
lifters.

He's still new; probably not too serious yet.

Richard said:

I'm just a fitness beginner: Not sure which group to pose this

question,

Quoted message said:

but when you do situps on a mat on the floor in the home, you need

your

Quoted message said:

feet/legs holding down. How do you do that? Can you buy something to
stop your feet/legs coming up off the floor? TIA.

Do you have a couch, or a stuffed chair? Shoove your toes under them.

I just do crunches, anyway. Lie on my back, set my lower legs on a
chair, then "crunch" my upper body toward my knees. I get my shoulder
blades off the floor, but that's about it. Twisting crunches, too.
Also consider reverse crunches. I lie on my back on a weight bench and
grab behind my head, but I suppose you could lie on your back with a
heavy chair or bed or couch right above your head. Reach up and grab to
stabilize your upper body against the floor, then lift your legs. I
pull my knees up to my elbows, twist and set the side of my hips
against the bench (floor), pull knees up to elbows, twist the other
way, etc.

You don't need anything fancy for abs, just an anchor for one end of
your body or the other.

Kermit

Quoted message said:

When I wrestled the coaches insisted we did situps without
anything holding our legs down ... apparently you used different
muscles with your legs held (IIRC hip flexors). You don't go all
the way up either ... above a 45 degree angle you're letting your
muscles relax.

I have tried hundreds and hundreds of times and couldn't for the life of me
do a single situp without something holding my legs down. I have a very
inflexible back. When I was in boot camp years ago I could do the running
and pushups with no problem but the situps would be torture.

"larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

When I wrestled the coaches insisted we did situps without
anything holding our legs down ... apparently you used different
muscles with your legs held (IIRC hip flexors). You don't go all
the way up either ... above a 45 degree angle you're letting your
muscles relax.

I have tried hundreds and hundreds of times and couldn't for the life of
me do a single situp without something holding my legs down. I have a very
inflexible back. When I was in boot camp years ago I could do the running
and pushups with no problem but the situps would be torture.

Hm, are your legs out straight in front of you? Like others said,
you could always hook your toes under a door or couch, and do
them that way. One of those Swiss exercise balls might be pretty
good for you if you're just starting out - use it to strengthen both
stomach and lower back. You'll want to do both, and if like me
you're past the prime of youth you'll want to build them up
slowly and methodically - pulling something in your back is
no fun once you're past your 20's.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have tried hundreds and hundreds of times and couldn't for the life of
me do a single situp without something holding my legs down. I have a
very inflexible back. When I was in boot camp years ago I could do the
running and pushups with no problem but the situps would be torture.

Hm, are your legs out straight in front of you? Like others said,
you could always hook your toes under a door or couch, and do
them that way. One of those Swiss exercise balls might be pretty
good for you if you're just starting out - use it to strengthen both
stomach and lower back. You'll want to do both, and if like me
you're past the prime of youth you'll want to build them up
slowly and methodically - pulling something in your back is
no fun once you're past your 20's.

I've tried both ways, legs bent and straight out with no success. If I put
my toes under my couch I can do situps reasonably well. For my height I have
short legs and a big upper body and long arms (good for deadlifting I
guess). My stomach and back muscles are relatively strong, I can take a
decent punch to the stomach no problem. I am 31 and have been working out on
and off for years although I took off for 4-5 years and started back again
about 7 months ago.

Using a Swiss exercise ball is a great idea though and something I had not
thought of before...

larry said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have tried hundreds and hundreds of times and couldn't for the life of
me do a single situp without something holding my legs down. I have a
very inflexible back. When I was in boot camp years ago I could do the
running and pushups with no problem but the situps would be torture.

Hm, are your legs out straight in front of you? Like others said,
you could always hook your toes under a door or couch, and do
them that way. One of those Swiss exercise balls might be pretty
good for you if you're just starting out - use it to strengthen both
stomach and lower back. You'll want to do both, and if like me
you're past the prime of youth you'll want to build them up
slowly and methodically - pulling something in your back is
no fun once you're past your 20's.

I've tried both ways, legs bent and straight out with no success. If I put
my toes under my couch I can do situps reasonably well. For my height I have
short legs and a big upper body and long arms (good for deadlifting I
guess). My stomach and back muscles are relatively strong, I can take a
decent punch to the stomach no problem. I am 31 and have been working out on
and off for years although I took off for 4-5 years and started back again
about 7 months ago.

Using a Swiss exercise ball is a great idea though and something I had not
thought of before...

Leg raises aren't an issue for me, as I have short-ish legs and a heavy
upper body. However, this makes situps very tedious without anchoring my
feet, because there isn't enough mass in my legs for gravity to act as
an anchor.

--
spammage trappage: replace fishies_ with yahoo

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've tried both ways, legs bent and straight out with no success. If I
put my toes under my couch I can do situps reasonably well. For my height
I have short legs and a big upper body and long arms (good for
deadlifting I guess). My stomach and back muscles are relatively strong,
I can take a decent punch to the stomach no problem. I am 31 and have
been working out on and off for years although I took off for 4-5 years
and started back again about 7 months ago.

Using a Swiss exercise ball is a great idea though and something I had
not thought of before...

Leg raises aren't an issue for me, as I have short-ish legs and a heavy
upper body. However, this makes situps very tedious without anchoring my
feet, because there isn't enough mass in my legs for gravity to act as an
anchor.

Exactly!!! I can do leg raises like they are nothing.

"larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've tried both ways, legs bent and straight out with no success. If I
put my toes under my couch I can do situps reasonably well. For my
height I have short legs and a big upper body and long arms (good for
deadlifting I guess). My stomach and back muscles are relatively strong,
I can take a decent punch to the stomach no problem. I am 31 and have
been working out on and off for years although I took off for 4-5 years
and started back again about 7 months ago.

Using a Swiss exercise ball is a great idea though and something I had
not thought of before...

Leg raises aren't an issue for me, as I have short-ish legs and a heavy
upper body. However, this makes situps very tedious without anchoring my
feet, because there isn't enough mass in my legs for gravity to act as an
anchor.

Exactly!!! I can do leg raises like they are nothing.

I'm similar and do situps on a Swiss ball. You can do them a load of
different ways but I do one to the left, one to the right and one to the
middle and repeat.

Fraser