If you don't mind calisthenics but hate sit-ups, there's good news for you. Exercise and military experts are taking sit-ups off their routines in order to prevent back injuries.
A recent editorial in Navy Times called for banishing the sit-up from physical readiness tests sailors must pass every year. The editors call it "an outdated exercise today viewed as a key cause of lower back injuries.
Sit-ups can put hundreds of pounds of compressive force on the spine, according to the Spine Biomechanics Department at Canada's University of Waterloo. Those compressive forces combined with repeated flexing motions can squeeze the discs in the spine. It eventually causes discs to bulge, pressing on nerves and causing back pain, potentially leading to disc herniation.
Instead of sit-ups, they recommend exercises with a modified curl-up with hands placed underneath the low back and shoulders barely leaving the ground.
The injury risk with modified sit-ups depends on the exact motion and on an individual's physical limitations. Some fitness instructors have ditched even modified sit-ups.
One move, called the plank pose has expanded beyond yoga classes and is used widely in physical training in place of sit-ups. Lying on the side with the body held straight from heel to shoulder, it is performed with a forearm on the ground as a person moves up and down.
The plank uses muscles on the front, side and back of your midsection or core, while a sit-up requires just a few muscles, expert say.
The Navy and Marines are revising the elements of their fitness tests in order to make them more effective.
