I have been told by a couple of coaches that when your doing a sit up you should not go all the back so the ab muscle is always on load. Is this correct? It would seem to me better to let the muscle go through the full range of motion? What do you guys think.
i do alot of pilates exercises for my core and you must hold the area throughout the entire rep/set.failure to do so would be defeating the purpose,so whenever i start slacking i take a break because i’ve stressed the area enough.
while doing normal ab work i would try to do the exact same but throughout the whole range of motion,tricky but worth the effort!
The full range of motion would relate to the postion of the sit up. As to work the abs, you are basically shortening and lengthening the muscles (as you would do with a bicup curl), you still need to remain tension on the working muscles. To reduce tension on the abs, so to lengthen the range of motion to the fullest (eg crunches lying on the floor) would equate to resting your hand on the ground at the bottom of each bicup curl movement, which is never done. In addition, holding the abs in isometric tension at the bottom of the crunch will add to the core stability stimulation, essential to any sprinting.
If you pause at the bottom or top with situps, or any exercise, more reps are able to be performed and hence the fibres will be placed under greater stress for greater contractile tissue development. Regarding endurance qualities, if the situps are taken to completion these qualities will be trained atleast as adequately.
I perform all my situp movements with near-maximal range of motion. I go back down to the point where the very bottom of my shoulder blades touch and then go back up. I found this to be the most effective, personally. I like the way it doesn’t completely kill the muscle while still keeping it stimulated and allowing for multiple reps to be completed.