4 Exercises You Can Do on a Sit up bench
You might think that a sit up bench is pretty straightforward or the question ‘why do I even need a sit up bench’ may come to mind? However, it’s a more versatile piece of kit than you think and they’ve been growing in popularity.
Quick trainer tip - When it comes to sit ups it’s ab-solutely important to remember that your abs aren’t some mythical and magical group of muscles… They need a break too, so don’t overdo it with your ab training across the week. Also… I hate to be the bearer of bad news… but you can’t lose body fat on your stomach from doing sit ups. Unfortunately, we can’t pick and choose where fat is stored around the body. Fat loss on the body and where it happens ultimately depends on your genetics but that’s a whole different blog for another day!
We’re here to help you build and define some killer abs, so on this knowledge blog we explore 4 Exercises you can do on a sit up bench. Also quick shout out to South Australian Futsal Player of The Year, Jack Tamkin, for jumping in front of the camera and helping with our instructional vids this week.
1). Reverse Crunches
Want to work your midsection? These are for you!
1). Lie on the bench, facing up, whilst holding onto the top of the bench behind your head, keep the elbows close together.
2). Start with your legs straight, bring your knees towards your elbows as you curl your lower back and hips away from the bench.
3). Reverse the movement and slowly lower your knees and legs back to the start position.
Tempo is important in this exercise as it increases the time under tension of the upper abs.
Do 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 18 repetitions.
Reverse Crunch
2). Decline sit ups
To increase or decrease the intensity of the decline sit up you can adjust the angle of the bench. As always, start easy and work your way up. A top coaching tip is to make sure you tuck your chin into your chest to help support/ protect your neck.
1). Sit on the bench with your knees bent and place your feet under the padded bar.
2). Cross your arms over your chest, or put your hands behind your head and interlace your fingers around the base of your skull.
3). Lift your upper body up to bring your chest to your thighs.
4). Pause slightly, then return to the start position.
Do 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 18 repetitions.
Decline sit ups
3). Decline dumbbell press
- Select your desired DB weight and position the DB’s in your hip crease as you sit down on the edge of the sit up bench.
- To get into position, hook one leg over the support pads, lay back and keep the weights close to your chest as you hook your other leg into position. Once settled, take a deep breath and press the dumbbells to lockout at the top.
- Slowly lower the dumbbells with control until level with your chest.
- Contract the chest muscles and push the dumbbells back up to the starting position.
- Repeat for 4 sets of 10-12 repetitions.
Decline dumbbell press
4). Leg raise to hip lift
This is probably my favourite ab exercises ever and it's a great finisher to your strength workouts.
1). Lie on the bench, facing up, whilst holding onto the top of the bench behind your head, keep the elbows close together.
2). As you hold the bench to secure your position, bend your knees slightly and slowly lift your legs up until your body is at a 90-degree angle with feet in the air.
3). From this 90-degree position, lift your butt off the bench so your feet are directly above your head while exhaling and lift or push the feet up as high as you can.
4). Slowly return to the starting position by uncurling the body until your body is flat on the bench and legs level with your torso.
5). Do 2 sets of 12- 5 repetitions.
Leg raise to hip lift
So there you go, 4 awesome exercises to get you started on the humble and versatile sit up bench. You can also get creative and do exercises like push ups, dumbbell rows and even step ups! This is one of the reasons we love the sturdier benches like the Xpeed X-Series Sit Up Bench and FFITTECH Crunch Bench.
Written by Fitness Warehouse Personal Trainer, Simon Mitchell. Simon has a Bachelor of Human Movement, is a certified FMS trainer and has worked in the fitness industry since 2003. Simon started his fitness journey as a trainer with iNform Health and Fitness before moving into commercial radio and then back into fitness with Bodyism in the United Kingdom and Australia. A career highlight was being one of Daisy Ridley's personal trainers on Star Wars IX - The Rise Of Skywalker.
