Not all sit-up exercises are created equal. In fact, much of it is a waste of training time. A study conducted at San Diego State University’s Biomechanics Laboratory looked at the electromyography (EMG) activity results from a popular core workout. Here’s how they performed, along with other favorite (and least favorite) abdominal exercises.
The Stationary-Bike Warm-Up
You need to warm up, but the typical five-minute tour on the stationary bike probably isn’t going to do much, says Dean Maddalone, CSCS, director of the Professional Athletic Performance Center in New York. Your warm-up should get your heart rate to at least 60 to 65 percent of your max heart rate (aim for 120 or up). This will increase your core body temperature and get blood and nutrients to your muscles so you’re primed for your workout, he says. “If you don’t increase your heart rate or break a sweat, you’re wasting your time,” he says.
Better Moves:
Warm up (and in less time!) by hammering out some quick bodyweight exercises. Try 30 jumping jacks, 30 bodyweight squats, 15 mountain climbers, or 10 to 15 burpees, Maddalone recommends. Our hearts are pounding just thinking about it.
Machine Leg Presses
The leg-press machine turns a multi-plane exercise (squats) into a single-plane exercise, says Maddalone. Translation: Your legs can only move in one direction, not up and down, side to side, and forward and backward, like nature intended. Your stabilizer muscles are taken out of the equation, and you get only a fraction of the muscle-building, calorie-torching benefits.
Better Moves:
“Squats are probably one of the best multi-joint exercises,” says Maddalone. “They not only develop your legs, they also help develop overall trunk stability.” Start with bodyweight squats and then progress to goblet squats, holding a dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest for added resistance, he says. To get the most out of the exercise, make sure to lower your torso until your thighbone is parallel to the ground and keep your weight in your heels.
Smith Machine Shoulder Presses
This one goes on the inefficient list for the same reason as the machine leg presses: The Smith machine fixes your weight’s path so that you only need to push it up and down, Maddalone says. You don’t need to work to keep the weight stable, meaning fewer muscles in your shoulders work during every rep.
Better Moves:
You might need to lift less weight, but performing shoulder presses with a set of dumbbells is going to get you a better burn and sexier set of shoulders.
Kettlebell Swings
It’s one of the most common kettlebell exercises out there, but kettlebell swings—in which you swing a kettlebell between your legs and then up in front of you or even over your head—use a lot of momentum, says certified personal trainer John Rowley, director of wellness at the International Sports Sciences Association. The more momentum you use, the less muscle you use—and sculpt.
Better Moves:
Most people do kettlebell swings in an effort to tone their legs and the frontal deltoids, Rowley says. If that’s you, opt for working your legs with squats or lunges and working your front deltoids with slow and controlled dumbbell front raises.
Weighted Side Bends
When it comes to working your obliques, many women perform these: They stand tall, holding a dumbbell at one side, and they crunch toward it over and over again. And while they will work your external obliques, crunching like this, especially with heavy weights, will make those muscles more pronounced and dare we say it, bigger, according to certified group fitness instructor Angeles Burke. If you’re vying for a chiseled athletic look, that’s great, but if you want to make your middle look smaller, this could be counterproductive. Plus, these side bends don’t do much for your internal obliques or the rest of your core, which is critical to sports performance, she says.
Better Moves:
Try side planks with a twist, bicycles, and Russian twists, she says. They’ll all work your external obliques, while also working your deeper abdominal muscles—including your internal obliques and transverse abdominis, your true powerhouse.
Hip Adduction/Abduction Machine
You know that machine that makes you feel like you’re sitting in stirrups at the gyno’s office? Yeah, you don’t need it. “By sitting when performing this exercise, you’re actually hurting your ability to deliver maximum results,” Rowley says. “The glute muscles have a harder time activating while you are in the seated position, and you’re not working a variety of muscles here, when you could be using a different exercise.”
Better Moves:
Try squats, lunges, and, if you really want to work your inner and outer thighs, side lunges, Rowley says. By working those muscles while standing, you’ll be able to better work your adductors and abductors, while you’ll also get an awesome calorie burn by also recruiting your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.
Machine Leg Extensions
These can strengthen the muscles in your upper thighs, but that’s about it, says doctor of physical therapy and strength and conditioning specialist Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, CSCS, a bistroMD fitness expert. “Isolated movements like this one provide very little carryover to daily functioning and sports performance,” he says. “Moreover, they lack the efficiency of using multiple muscle groups for maximal calorie burning needed for weight loss and general health.”
Better Moves:
Again, the squat reigns supreme. (See how many moves you could cut from your workout routine if you simply squatted?) Squats involve multiple joints to strengthen the front and back of your legs, as well as your butt, so it builds more strength and burns more calories, Wells says. Plus, it’s completely functional, meaning it mimics motions you do in everyday life outside of the gym. Step-ups and lunges are also great quad-strengtheners that work the rest of your legs, too, he says.
Better choice:
Be honest and true to yourself. Perform each exercise in textbook style. When you squat, you achieve a full range of motion. Keep your knees completely down, in line with your toes, your hamstrings in line with your calves, and your back flat.
On the bench press he reaches the 5 point position. Your head, upper back, and buttocks should be in contact with the bench, and your feet should be firmly planted on the floor. If your upper body lifts too high when rowing, reduce the load and do it correctly. Make every exercise work for you, not against you. That way, you won’t waste any time getting the body you really want.
