Do you ever get that feeling at the end of a long workout that there must be a better way to train your stomach? As you lower yourself down into an ab cradle only to go through the motions of exercising your abdominals, it all becomes a bit too automated. I have seen this happen on more than one occasion and it is disappointing to see ab cradles still being used when there is a wide range of stomach exercises out there just waiting for you to try them out.

Function

 This is a common problem among gym goers who train their abs. That feeling that the neck starts to ache way before you are able to get any reaction from your abdominal muscles.

What is the cause?

As we spend the majority of our days upright - whether it is seated or standing – our neck creates the perfect support for our heads using as little muscle as possible. Quite literally the whole spine is supporting the head. However it is very rare for our bodies to be in a horizontal position without head support. Therefore the spine is no longer able to support the head and that is now left to our relatively weak neck muscles. These neck muscles tire very quickly as they are not trained to hold the head up in the sit up or crunch position.

Ah the sit up, is it a good exercise or is it bad? Does it work the abdominals properly? Does it make your stomach stick out? These are all questions that surround this exercise which I feel makes the whole thing very confusing and might result in people not doing the exercise. This would be a shame as it is a very good exercise for the abs when it is completed with good technique.

What is it for?

A few days ago I was asked the question: can sit ups make your stomach bigger? It took me back to my school days when there was a belief that too many sit ups would have the opposite effect of the desired flat tummy and actually give you a big stomach. So I have taken it upon myself to settle this myth once and for all.

Is it possible?

Your "core" is a word that is used a lot these days without really any understanding of the muscles involved and how to use them. Today I want to explain which muscles make up your core, where in the body they are found and how they are, or rather should, be used.