Sit ups…..I remember doing so many during grade school and beyond. They were a staple in PE, sports practice, and also in my first home exercise routines. I did a LOT of sit-ups before the age of 18 and I am well experienced with this exercise.
Then there was a workout that changed my life forever. When I was 16 years old I was doing a workout that included box jumps. During my last jump down from a big wooden box something strange and unexpected occurred. A lightening bolt of pain struck my low back. OUCH! I was down on the ground confused and full of fear. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had just created a disc bulge. My disc was out of place and it was touching a nerve. This created a lot of pain and made walking near impossible for a time.
Why me? Why did jumping down from a box create a disc bulge?…. It all comes down to anatomy, physics, and time.
The human spine has the potential to have a great range of motion despite the fact that no one segment has a large range of motion. When all the segments move together, this creates the ability for sit-ups, back arching, and other motions (including the ones found in circus acts…). Sit-ups are a flexion based exercise that takes the spine through a large range of motion. What is missed by many that love sit-ups is that not all segments of the spine are equal.
The middle back (known as the thoracic spine) has ribs attached to each vertebrae. This makes the middle back more stable than the lower back (the lumbar spine) which do not have ribs attached. Instead the low back vertebra are stabilized by muscles (the ab muscles…the six pack). So, at a baseline the lumbar vertebrae and discs are more unstable than the rest of the spine because it carries much more load than the neck and it does not have ribs attached like the middle back. Therefore, the low back does not have the capacity to withstand a lot of load over time when motion is added compared to the middle back.
If you want to injure the human lumbar spine, sit-ups are a great way to do it. This was demonstrated in labs that took cadaver spines (from pigs) through the sit-up motion. Disc damage was created. The research did not stop there. The same thing was shown in living humans!
(Yates, Justin P. MSc; McGill, Stuart M. PhD. The Effect of Vibration and Posture on the Progression of Intervertebral Disc Herniation. Spine: March 1, 2011 - Volume 36 - Issue 5 - p 386-392)
Sit-ups are indeed a very good exercise to work the abdominal muscles. However, sit-ups are one of the highest “tax” body weight exercises there is. Yes, sit-ups will give you stronger muscles, but they will weaken your spine and will likely cause back pain. This is what happened to me. All the sit-ups I performed as a youth slowly weakened the collagen around my disc and made it more vulnerable to injury.
When I jumped off that big wooden box when I was 15 years old, my collagen was already cracked and weak. The force of jumping down caused the “dam” to rupture sending me on a near 15 year journey into chronic low back pain. In short, I would not recommend classic sit-ups as an acceptable exercise for most people. There are many other exercises that work the core FAR BETTER than a sit-up that have little to no spine tax.
More on this subject coming soon in part 2….
Ready to build your body while sparing your spine? Contact Jason Cornish, Medical Fitness Specialist, Personal Trainer, and Health Coach in Auburn, AL today at 402-521-0314 or email at jason.a.cornish@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: Please consult your doctor before you begin any exercise program. The content of this blog is for educational purposes only. You are responsible for the outcomes for the use, misuse, or lack of use of the information presented in this blog.