How to build up muscles in *preparation* for sit-ups, etc?

Factual Questions
1

Okay, I feel rather pathetic mentioning this, but here goes:

I hardly get opportunities to exercise, but a friend of mine said that what he used to do was (before bedtime out of convenience for him) see how many push-ups and how many sit-ups he could do that time. Even if it was only 1, he wouldn’t get discouraged, he’d write it down and keep track.

After a few months he could do much more (at least 50 sit-ups and push-ups), and he lost several inches from his waist.

I’m female, but I’m thinking that it would still be good for me, right? A little bit of exercise is better than none.

Here’s the problem: I know the proper method of doing sit-ups and push-ups, but… uh… I can’t even do one proper sit-up or push-up. :smack:

I can do sit-ups incorrectly (have my arms to my chest instead of behind my neck), but correctly I can barely even do a single crunch. And I can do push-ups incorrectly (arch your back as you go up, which really accomplishes next-to-nil in actual exercise it seems), but correctly, nope. :frowning:

So, is there anything I can do to build up muscles in preparation for sit-ups and push-ups? Or do I just keep trying to do them properly, even if I can’t even fully raise my shoulders off the ground, in hopes that eventually I can do them?

2

I’m something of a slug, so may not be in the best position to comment, but until some exercise freak comes along :wink: , here’s my two cents.

Why not just do the sit-ups with your arms across your chest for a week or two? You may find that by the end of a couple of weeks, you can start to do them with your hands behind your head.

Similarly for push-ups - start by using your knees as the leverage point, not your toes, while keeping your back straight. Do it that way for a while, then see if you can do them using your toes as the leverage point.

Don’t forget to stretch before trying either one. If you’ve not done any exercises for a while, you need to stretch your muscles in advance, to warm them up. Particularly, do some stretches for your tummy muscles, like raising your arms above your head/behind your neck. I started doing some sit-ups once without stretching, and pulled a muscle in the stomach area. Couldn’t do any sit-ups, push-ups or swimming for a couple of weeks.

3

If you have access to a gym, they’ll have machines there that mimic those motions, and you can use less weight.

If not, then just try as hard as you can. Eventually you will be able to do one of each, and then more…

4

Placing your arms over your chest or at your sides is not incorrect for situps or crunches. If that’s all you can manage, that’s fine. Do it that way until you’re strong enough to place your hands higher if that’s what you want. There are many ways to do crunches and situps, some easier than others. The main thing is that you’re doing something! Try to keep in mind:

  • Do NOT pull on your head or neck trying to haul yourself up (you could hurt your neck and you’ll be cheating by using other muscles to help your abs). To this end, never clasp your hands behind your neck. Just place them by your ears. Again, doing crunches or situps with your hands over your chest or at your sides is just fine.

  • Do your best to isolate your abdominal muscles. Focus on feeling them contracting, rather than trying to lift your whole upper body up off the floor. It should be a smooth squeeze, not a herky-jerky yank.
    If you can’t manage a “proper” pushup, try doing one from your knees. Start out on the floor as with a regular pushup, but as you push, allow your knees to bend so your lower legs from your knees to your feet stay on the floor. Keep your back straight and breathe out on the push.

5

Argh damn post got eaten.
Anyway check out these links:

http://www.worldar.com/exercise/
http://www.acefitness.org/updateable/update_display.cfm?pageID=51&categoryID=25

They gives descriptions of the proper way to do many exercises. If you’re doing old style situps, that’s bad and you have a higher risk of injury to your back.
For pushups, you can also do them against a wall and increase the level of difficulty by starting more horizontal to the wall.

Isometric exercises are also good. This is flexing the muscle and holding it in a static position. The drawback is that you only increase the strength of a muscle at one point and the muscle stays weak through the rest of the range of motion. You can avoid this by flexing the muscle through the entire range of motion, as if you were lifting/pushing against an invisble object.
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20001005.html gives some info about isometrics.

6

Pushups employ many of the muscles of your upper body. Especially back, shoulders, and triceps. You might consider purchasing some light weights and formulating an upper body workout to tone the muscles needed for pushups. A pair of 2-5 pound dumbells is very versatile.

For both exercises, you can decrease the angle. I.e. to do a pushup, put your hands on a chair or bench, creating less resistance that you would if your hands were on the floor.

For situps, just do little crunches with correct form. Aim to get your shoulder blades off the ground, but even failing that, if you can feel your abs contracting, they’re working, and should strengthen.

7

NOOOO! I hear that all the time, and was taught the same thing as a kid. Stretching should not be done until * after * you are properly warmed up not as a means to warm up.

8

I agree with the rest who said that doing situps with the arms across the chest is a perfectly legitimate way to do them. You’re still working the same muscles, just with less force. The push-ups from the knees also work well. If that’s too difficult, you could try doing some version of the bench press. That’s lying on your back (a weight bench is good, but not absolutely necessary) and pushing a weight straight up. I’m sure you’ve got something heavy around the house that’ll be useable.

Another note. These exercises are primarily for muscle tone, not weight loss. Aerobic exercises for 15 minutes or more per day are a much better strategy to take off pounds and inches; push-ups are primarily good for gaining inches on your arms and (for males, at least) chest. I’d recommend looking for some time where you can get in that sort of exercise - even walking.

9

I warned you I was a slug…:stuck_out_tongue:

10

What Kamandi said regarding situps.

Regarding pushups: These require a lot of upper body strength, which tends to be a weak spot for women. Once you have the ability to do pushups, they’re a great way to develop upper body strength — but, as you’ve noted, you’ve got to work up to that level. Let me suggest a way to build up to that:

Start with wall pushups. Stand next to the wall, and do your pushup into and away from the wall instead of up off the floor. This way, your body weight is fully supported by your feet, so you have a lot less weight to push up and away from the wall. You should be able to do a lot of repetitions this way. When you feel like you’re not challenged enough, or it feels as if you’re doing way too many repetitions, it’s time to up your level of difficulty.

To make this more difficult, step back further from the wall. To make it more difficult still, stand on one leg, with the other one lifted or crossed behind the first one. Again, the further back you stand for the wall, the more difficulty you’re giving to your upper body. Once these get pretty easy, you’re ready to graduate to floor pushups — first starting with pushups from your knees, and possibly later on to full body pushups with your weight on your toes.

The wall push up part will let you build up your arm strength. The other difficult part of pushups is having the trunk strength to maintain good form during your pushup. You should have a straight line between your shoulders and your knees (or your feet, if you’re doing a full pushup.) A lot of people tend to push their fannies up in the air when they’re doing pushups, which is a method of cheating.

One way to develop the trunk strength needed in pushups is to do a plank maneuver. To do this, lie down on the floor face down. Put your arms beside you, with your elbows close in to your side, and your palms down on the ground. Lift your body up off the ground, with your weight resting on your forearms and your knees (or, when you’re more advanced, you can go to your weight resting on your forearms and toes, as in a full body pushup.) Once you’re up there, hold. Start with 15 seconds or so if you can, then rest and repeat. When you can maintain the proper form on this, hold it for longer intervals.

This sounds simple, but it is intense. And remember, it’s called the plank for a good reason. You want to keep your body as straight as a plank. If you start sticking your fanny up in the air, you’re cheating.

I notice that I typically end up with my hands making sort of a triangle shape, nearly meeting under my face when I do this. You can do the triangle, or keep them straight if you prefer.

So, here are some options to work up to pushups. It may start out slowly, but it just takes some time and effort. Keep in mind that you’re going to get a lot more out of doing 5-10 pushups with excellent form than 20 fast pushups with your fanny up in the air, pumping them out quickly so that you rely on momentum (which is the way I see LOTS of people doing them.)

Note: Upon preview, I noted that I used the term “fanny” in several spots. I’ve learned recently that those of you in the UK have a different reading for that term than I’m used to. In my parts, “fanny” is the kinder, gentler term for buttock, rear end, derriere, gluteus maximus, etc. No offense is meant…

11

Interestingly, the method you expressly say not to do is the method REQUIRED by the US Army. When we take our Physical Fitness Test, a situp does not count if your hands are not interlocked behind your head. If the fingers come apart…doesn’t count.

Like everyone here has said, do crunches to start, and work up to situps. The Crunch is actually a much better abdominal only exercise, as the situp works not only the abs, but the hip flexors as well. (not that that’s bad)

Like others have said here, start with pushups on your knees, then work up to doing them correctly.

Jman

12

Thanks, everyone! I don’t feel quite as pathetic now, knowing that I can build up to be able to do these things, heh heh.

I’ve printed out this thread because it has a lot of great advice. Thanks again!

13

And clarifying stretching: This can mean two different things. It can mean a general move-around and loosen things up movement-- picture waking up and stretching. This kind of warm up is very good to do before exercising, in fact highly recommended; don’t get up from 8 hours sitting and immediately start doing pushups. Take a minute to move around, get the blood flowing and get the kinks out.
‘Stretching’ also means increasing flexibility by holding poses at the end of a joint’s range of motion (e.g hamstring stretches) This should only be done AFTER exercising, so the joint is nice and warm blood is flowing etc.