Welcome back to Get Fit Guy. I'm your host, Dr. Jonathan Sue. Every week, I'll share science-backed

tips to help you get fit, stay fit, and optimize performance. Sit-ups and crunches are popular

exercises for working the abdominal muscles.

They're the go-to for most people who want to strengthen their core or develop six-pack abs.

However, sit-ups and crunches have come under increased scrutiny over the last several years

as potentially dangerous movements that should be avoided.

Are these exercises really as bad as some say they are?

If so, what makes sit-ups and crunches so dangerous,

and what exercises should we be doing instead?

Let's start by looking at where the idea that sit-ups and crunches are potentially dangerous comes from.

This idea is based on studies showing that repetitive bending of the trunk,

like the motions used in sit-ups and crunches, damages the discs of the lower back.

These studies provide useful insights into how disc herniations,

also called bulge, slipped, or ruptured disks can happen.

But the findings of these studies should be interpreted with a fair amount of skepticism.

Why? Because they're all based on research using the dissected spine of dead pigs

that were continuously taken into sit-up or crunch-like motions

from 4,400 to more than 86,000 times using a machine in a laboratory setting.

Based on these studies, well-meaning rehab and fitness researchers began touting sit-ups and

crunches as dangerous movements that should be avoided by most people.

I prefer a pragmatic approach when weighing in on these issues by considering both the research as well as the reality. We are, of course, living and breathing humans, not dead

pig spines placed in bending machines for countless hours without pause.

...