Is it true that doing sit-ups will cause paralysis? How to lose belly fat?

Many people choose to do sit-ups to exercise their stomachs and lose their "swimming rings". The correct way to do sit-ups is to use the abdominal muscles to move the body up, but in fact, many people use the wrong force. It was said before that doing sit-ups will cause paralysis, so is this true? So how do you exercise the fat on your stomach?

Is it true that doing sit-ups can cause paralysis?

Standard sit-ups will not cause serious injuries or paralysis. The reason why many people believe that sit-ups can cause paralysis is simple, and the main reason is that the movements are not standardized. If the movements are not standardized, running can also hurt the knees, and strength training can even kill people.

The so-called paralysis caused by sit-ups is actually mainly caused by the incorrect force application method when performing the action, which causes damage to the cervical and lumbar vertebrae:

1. Do not use your hands to forcefully press your head and neck. Many people, due to insufficient abdominal muscle strength, forcefully press their head and neck when they roll up and transition to a sitting position, which causes unnecessary and huge pressure on the cervical spine, and in severe cases, causes high-level paraplegia.

2. The waist should not be arched to squeeze the lumbar spine. Due to insufficient abdominal muscle strength, many people actually rely on the muscles of the lower back to exert force, which makes the torso in a "rigid" posture, and uses the hip muscles to pull up the pelvis and upper body. And this force mode is often explosive, which can damage the lumbar spine.

In short, improper sit-ups are the culprit that causes injuries.

How to get rid of belly fat

If you want to exercise your hip joints, you can do sit-ups and pay special attention to protecting your spine. However, for exercising the waist and abdominal muscles, crunches are more targeted and effective.

The important thing for beginners doing sit-ups is to find the feeling of tightening and contracting the abdomen. Many times, they are used to letting the neck share the strength, which will increase the risk of injury and greatly reduce the effect of exercise.

From less to more, from as standard as possible to standard, due to the limitations and flexibility of the body, many movements cannot be done very standardly, such as the legs cannot be straightened when crossing and raising the legs, the hands cannot touch the heels when touching the feet alternately left and right, etc. Don't be in a hurry at the beginning. The important thing is to focus on the abdominal force, breathe evenly, and don't hold your breath!

The abdomen is a part that recovers relatively quickly. You can practice it more often as long as you don't feel sore. There is no need for special separate training. Just do two sets after finishing other exercises.

If you want to have abdominal muscles, you need to control your body fat.

Difference between crunches and sit-ups

The biggest difference between sit-ups and crunches is that the back needs to be completely raised while only the upper back needs to leave the ground. It is this difference that makes the force points of the two movements completely different.

Sit-ups require you to sit up with your back, and the iliopsoas muscle is the core of the force. In addition, the arms will be used to gain force when holding the head, causing the back to be severely bent, which may cause damage to the spine.

Crunches mainly use the abdomen as the core force. The back does not need to be completely raised, and the waist and abdomen should be close to the ground. No matter which type of crunch you do, there is only one purpose: to strengthen the core muscles.

The most common mistakes for beginners when doing crunches are the force point and breathing. Whether the hands are placed on the chest or behind the head, it is easy to use the neck for force, which will cause neck pain or even injury over time. And habitually holding your breath will easily make it easy to ignore your breathing.