Are sit-ups bad for your back?

For most healthy people, sit-ups aren't harmful. But they aren't the best core exercise, and if they make your lower back or neck hurt, you can drop them with no loss. Planks, dead bugs and bird dogs train your core with less strain on your spine.

The old claim that sit-ups wreck your back comes from the idea that repeated spinal bending with load wears down the discs. That's been shown in lab studies on spines in controlled settings, but it doesn't mean a few sets of sit-ups will hurt you. Plenty of people do them for years without trouble.

Why they sometimes bother people

• Hip flexors do a lot of the work, especially if your feet are anchored, and that can pull on the lower back
• Pulling on your neck with your hands is common and gets sore fast
• Bad form: yanking up with momentum puts more stress on your spine
• If you have a history of back pain or disc problems, bending repeatedly may flare it

If you want to keep doing them

1. Bend your knees and keep your feet flat
2. Cross your arms on your chest instead of pulling on your head
3. Curl up slowly and lower slowly
4. Stop when your lower back starts to ache, and not when your reps run out

A crunch, where only your shoulders come off the floor, is a gentler version for the same muscles.

Better options for most people

• Plank: holds your spine still while the abs work
• Dead bug: slow and easy on the back
• Bird dog: trains your lower back and core together
• Side plank: targets the obliques
• Hanging knee raises, if you have a bar

Most of these build a stable core that carries over to lifting, running and lifting kids, which is more useful than a high sit-up count.

If sit-ups feel fine for you and you want some motivation to do them, League of Fitness has ranked 60-second sit-up races where the phone camera counts your reps. Keep the form points above, and stop if your back complains.

When to see someone

If you have back pain that radiates down your leg, causes numbness or weakness, comes with a fever, or lasts for more than a couple of weeks, see a doctor or physical therapist before you keep training. Sharp pain during any exercise means stop.

Abs and sit-ups also come up in the question of whether ab workouts give you a six pack, and the short answer there is less than you'd think.