The abdominal muscle is my weak point. In the future i will exercise it a lot to change it. My question is : Are sit-ups really effective ? Or is it just a common saying and there are way better exercises ? I would appreciate every hint. Thanks in advance.

it's worked for me ... there's a lot of variations on the average "sit up" that will help ... i've found i have less back pain if i focus on crunches ... lifting my shoulderblades just until they're OFF the ground and rolling back down until they're flat, but not relaxing my ab muscles in the lowering of my back ...

i don't know if you saw in my stats post or whatnot my ab workout ...

i start with 50 standard crunches
then i do 25-30 half bicycles on one side ... (right knee bent, left leg out flat, right hand behind head and elbow out and left arm out to side straight out ... fold right elbow towards left knee as you draw it up, then straight leg and lower elbow and shoulder blade back to ground ... then just do vise versa for the other side)
then i do another 25-30 half bicycles on the other side
another 50 crunches
then, in the standard situp position, i do the "thrust and hold" ... push fists, balled together, through your knees and count to two or three, and roll back down, repeat ...
then there's the air-bicycle thing that's odd ... with your hands under your hips ... thrust your legs straight out, then straight up thrusting your hips off your hands, then straight out, then straight up ...
then, a lot like swimming, there's variations on a flutter kick you can do laying on your back that massively work your abs, too ...

laying flat with hands under your hips, much as in the one above, lift your feet three to four inches off the ground and do a small flutter kick for 30 seconds ...
raise your legs about 6-8 inches and flutter kick for another 30 seconds
raise then until they're out at a 45 degree angle and flutter kick ...
then there's the scissors ... lay flat with feet out straight and hands outstretched with elbows by your ears and hands above your heads ... fold at your midsection and aim to reach your toes bringing both your legs and arms off the ground ... determine how many of those you want to do ...
then you can do the breast stroke on your back with your legs slightly elevated off the ground ...

to further work your obliques, you can lay flat on your back with your legs out straight in front of you in a laying position. place one hand on top of the other and roll to one side and hold the position for 10 breaths ... keeping ab muscles tight, lay back to the starting position without relaxing muscles and roll to other side for 10 breaths and back ...

Thank you for your tips concerning the variations. Although i knew that there are other variations i have done the normal ones all the time. Propably that was the reason why they didn't worked how i wanted them to work.

Sit ups are very effective specially to tone your lower abdominal area.
But if you are suffering from some sort of back pain please dont go for it as while doing sit ups u could get jerks in your spinal cord which could result dangerous. So if you think you cannot go for it, go for some bench press or some simple abdominal exercises.
Stay healthy !!

I've actually read on MSN's health center in some article that sit-ups don't work near as well as other exercises do. That is why I have never really done situps, if I have extra weight in the stomach area I just run long distances for awhile.

If you are trying to get a six-pack, there are many how-to guides on the internet that will teach you the specifics. (not just situps)

Good luck.

as with any exercise plan, you should obviously check with your doctor if you do suffer from ailments ... i've suffered from back problems for years, but it depends on the kind and what part of your back it afflicts ... just by having stronger ab muscles, my back pain is significantly lessened ... any activity can put stress on the back and spinal cord, not just situps ... although they can be the biggest culprit if done incorrectly ...

there are also plenty of standing exercises involving free weights that can help too ...

I know an abdominal exercise, which gives you nice results, but yes little hard to begin with, you lay on your stomach, on the groud, not your bed or a couch. Then bring your arms together and tuck them under your chest so that your basically lying on your fore arms, so that if you look straight done you can see the palm of your hands. For the next step push up off the ground with the your fore arms and go on your tippy toes so that your body is almost paralell with the ground. Now your stomach and most of your upper body should be above the ground. Hold this position for as long as you can. I admit, it is a hard exercise to do, but if you keep doing it everyday and holding that position a little longer each day, you will eventually have abs of steel.

I may try some of these as it may help with my pregnancy belly it is great to get advice off of someone that it works for - well here is hoping that it works for me.

best of luck! let me know how things go ...

I wish I could get on the floor and do this

I have started doing the above and my tummy was hurting yesterday - I will try again maybe that means it is working

that it does! don't overdo it ... work on getting down the exercises, first ... keep me posted!

Well I have only just started with your above plan

I only have done the 50 cruntches and they kill - I am so unfit - but but the summer comes I want to be able to do it with out any trouble

I did them this afternoon - even though it kills I am glad to be doing it

i can relate ... feel free to start with lower numbers so you can do all the exercises ... maybe aim for ten, max, of each ... that way you'll work ALL your ab muscles ...

I have just found myself reading this and then lifting my leg at the same time I am hoping to go into stage 2 next week with cast off and the boot on but the foot should be easier to get around on