How Many Sit-Ups Should A Beginner Do To See Results?
Let’s be honest; one of the most common body composition goals is to have a flat stomach. Some people want to lose their gut, some people want a six-pack, but almost everyone wants a flat stomach.
Whether you are just getting back into working out or a dedicated gym rat, you may be wondering, how many sit-ups does it take to get a six-pack?
I won’t hold you in suspense. There is no answer. It is an impossible question. To obtain a six-pack, you likely need to lose weight and build your core muscles. How much of either could take weeks or years. In addition, if you are only planning to do sit-ups, it would take a very long time.
So instead, I’ll attempt to answer some gnawing questions about sit-ups and how to get results from sit-ups.
Do sit-ups flatten your stomach?
Sit-ups alone will not flatten your stomach. However, sit-ups are an excellent exercise for building core strength and muscular endurance. In addition, sit-ups will help you develop your abdominal muscles, so when you are at a low enough body fat percentage, you can see some abdominal muscles.
If you’ve ever seen a boxer, excluding the heavyweights, they all have well-defined abs and a flat stomach. Boxers aren’t known for weight training. They are known for jumping rope, push-ups, sit-ups, and punching. It isn’t the sit-ups alone that create that physique.
Push-ups are a core exercise, essentially a moving plank, jumping is a core exercise too, and punching is a challenging oblique exercise. Every aspect of boxing training helps develop your abdomen.
Strength training is the same way. Deadlifts and front squats are two of the best core strengthening exercises. However, since most people don’t feel a burn in their abs when performing those exercises, they pass them off as lower body movements.
If you couldn’t maintain a stable position with your core under those heavy loads, you wouldn’t be able to do those lifts. And lifting heavy weights using your core to maintain your posture is a more efficient way to strengthen your core than sit-ups alone.
That being said, sit-ups are a beneficial aspect of a routine designed to flatten your stomach and can help you see significant results.
How soon will I see results from sit-ups?
Immediately, since some variations of sit-ups are available to people of all athletic abilities, you can start training them today. As you begin practicing sit-ups, you’ll notice that you are much better at sit-ups.
Sit-ups are a very scalable exercise; you can start with crunches, move to toe touches, and then start with sit-ups while your feet are pinned before moving to a classic sit-up.
In addition, if you do them daily as part of your routine, you will improve rapidly. You will be a sit-up pro in no time.
Will 100 sit-ups a day do anything?
If you are doing sit-ups daily for body composition goals, you may pick a large number to do, like 100. However, while 100 sit-ups a day will help you build strong core muscles and muscular endurance, it won’t make you skinny or give you a six-pack.
The adage is true; abs are made in the kitchen. Weight loss will be the number one aspect in achieving a six-pack or a flat stomach.
Although 100 push-ups a day will help you build the underlying abdominal muscles for when you lose weight. There will undoubtedly be some abdominal muscles there to show for a daily dedication to sitting up. However, it will have diminishing returns. Once you do 100 sit-ups a day for 60 days, 100 sit-ups will feel easy.
If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. You cannot just do 100 sit-ups a day for the rest of your life and expect to have rock-hard abs.
How many sit-ups is a good amount?
We’ve discussed that a good amount of sit-ups alone will not yield a six-pack. It will take weight loss and muscle building. If you have sit-ups in your routine and do more than three sets of twenty, sit-ups are too easy for you.
If you want to build visible abdominal muscles, you must train for muscle growth. Training for muscle growth means progressive overload (always making it more challenging) and staying in an ideal repetition range of abdominal muscle growth 6-15.
So instead of constantly increasing your repetition, change the weight or tempo. For example, hold a dumbbell or a plate while doing your sit-ups. Or try doing your sit-up quickly and then lowering back to the floor as slowly as possible.
Focus on the difficulty and continually increase it.
Once you get tired of sit-ups or want to try some other core exercises, I would give these a try:
EXERCISES THAT ARE BETTER THAN SIT-UPS
Dead Bugs: The reason dead bugs are better than sit-ups is that they work your lower abs and your upper abs. While maintaining a neutral spine. You can add weight to your hands and a bend to your elbow to increase the challenge in your upper abs.
Crawling: Crawling is one of the most underrated core exercises. It is more challenging than a plank and builds to even harder core exercises. It works your shoulders, obliques, and even your quads.
Hanging Knee Raise: Hanging, in general, is a phenomenal exercise. Strengthening your grip can strengthen your overall upper body strength. Hanging with your knees bent will challenge your core at the same time.
Hollow Body Holds: This exercise is one of the most brutal core exercises you can do without any equipment. It is the ultimate core hold.
How many sit-ups should a beginner do to see results?
If you’ve read this far, you know that sit-ups alone are not the most effective way to reach your body composition goals, and there is no one-size-fits-all prescription for sit-ups. Many factors go into creating a workout routine, most importantly, current fitness level and injury history.
People with back pain should not bother with sit-ups; opt instead for a plank.
If you have no preexisting injuries and are athletic enough to do regular sit-ups, make sure that you are being challenged. To grow muscle, you are going to have to challenge yourself regularly. Continually make the sit-ups harder, and you’ll see results faster.
No matter where you are in your fitness journey when you start something new, you will see rapid results initially and then much slower results going forward. It results from your body adapting to handle the new stressors placed on it.
How many sit-ups you need to do to see results is initially very few and will continue to increase as you get stronger.