Which is harder situps or crunches

While performing a crunch, you are isolating your abdominal muscles. While this is great for building a six pack, keep in mind crunches are not a holistic core training exercise, and are not designed to burn fat.

While crunches exclusively workout your abdominal muscles, a sit up is a slightly more intense exercise that strengthens your hip flexors, abdominal muscles, chest, neck, lower-back, as well as the muscles in your lower-legs. While a stronger core can improve your posture and reduce your risk of back injuries, if not performed properly, sit ups can cause serious back injuries. In fact, last July the US Army announced they are phasing out the two minute sit up test by late Both crunches and sit ups are common abdominal exercises for developing core strength.

However, while crunches isolate the muscles in your abdomen, sit ups target multiple muscle groups including the hip flexors and muscles in your lower-legs. While proper form is essential when performing any exercise, it is especially important for sit ups. Doing too many, soo soon, or doing sit ups incorrectly may lead to a lower back condition called hyperlordosis.

For this reason, follow the guides above, start slow and focus on proper sit up form to get the best, safest results. The only way to attain a flat and muscular stomach is to combine these exercises with a healthy, low-calorie diet and regular fat-burning aerobic exercise.

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Crunches work your rectus abdominis and obliques , the muscles along the sides of your stomach. If you're looking to isolate your abdominal muscles for a targeted workout, crunches are the best option. Even a small dose of crunches can bring ample benefits.

For example, a Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness study found that high school students with no previous training who did crunches one day per week for six weeks saw improved abdominal endurance.

Overall, McGill says crunches put less strain on the spine, so they are especially useful for those who want to target their abs and may be more susceptible to back injury or pain. Just like with sit-ups, you can add crunches on to a strength training workout about two to three times a week.

Try for three sets of 15 crunches. Though both sit-ups and crunches can strengthen your abdominal muscles, crunches are a more targeted approach that focus on your abs, while sit-ups work the surrounding muscles, as well. Crunches may also carry a lower risk of injury, as sit-ups can cause lower back pain for some people.

It should be noted that alternative core exercises offer similar, and sometimes better, results. For example, a study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy found that exercises done in a prone — face-down — position on an exercise ball are just as effective, which may be a helpful alternative to avoid back pain.

For example, planks may be the most beneficial core exercise for your health. Not only do they reduce the potential strain on your back and neck, but they also strengthen muscles in your upper body, like your triceps and shoulders, while you hold the pose. Still, all of these ab exercises can be part of a healthy, effective workout regimen. Just make sure you do each with proper form to reduce the risk of injury and achieve the most benefits.

World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. On the flip side, Chiara adds that sit ups can come with a greater risk of injury through placing stress and strain on the spine when they are performed incorrectly. This is especially true of the lumbar spine the lower back if you round your lower back, a common form mistake.

See more about these moves and - importantly - getting your form right with our how to do sit ups guide. Although they might seem similar, there are some notable differences between sit ups and crunches. Both sit ups and crunches offer benefits, however neither is inherently better than the other.

It all comes down to your personal goals. In fact, it could be useful to include both of these moves into your regime. Crunches require a much smaller movement than sit ups, and put a lot less pressure on the back and neck. One final word comes from Lyndsey, who says that whatever you choose to do - crunches or sit ups - you should not be doing them in isolation.

As you improve over time, she adds that both moves can be made more challenging with the use of accessories such as resistance bands, Pilates rings or medicine balls. She has previously written for titles including Now, Look and Cosmopolitan.