3/4 Sit-Up

Execution

1. Brace your abs lightly and press your lower back into the floor so the spine does not sag before you curl up.
2. Curl up one vertebra at a time: head and shoulders leave the floor first, then the mid back, with your eyes toward your knees.
3. Stop at the top, where your torso is close to vertical, hold for a beat and finish the exhale.
4. Lower under control but only about three quarters of the way: stop when your mid back is nearly touching the floor, with your head and shoulders still off it.
5. Curl straight back up from that point for the rest of your reps, and only lie all the way down when the last set is over.

Quick cues

• Press the low back down first.
• Chin tucked, do not yank the neck.
• Slow up, even slower down.
• Stop at three quarters, do not flop down.
• Feet stay put, no one holds them.

Common faults

• Fault: Yanking the head and neck with your hands to get up.

  Fix: Cross your arms over your chest, put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and look toward your knees; if you still yank, drop to three to five reps per set.

• Fault: Hooking your feet under a bench or having someone hold them to haul yourself up.

  Fix: Take the anchor away, bend the knees more and slide your feet closer to your hips; that shifts the work onto the abs and off the hip flexors.

• Fault: Flopping all the way down between reps and losing the tension in the abs.

  Fix: Only lower until the mid back is nearly touching the floor, then curl straight back up; if you cannot hold that, cut the reps instead of resting on the floor.

• Fault: The low back arches up off the floor and the belly cones into a ridge down the middle.

  Fix: Exhale and draw your navel toward your spine before you curl; if the ridge still appears, switch to the dead bug.