When the mirror on the wall tells you that your waistline is increasing, and you desperately need to tone it down, the first exercise that might come into your mind is the "sit-up". It has been a significant part of the exercise regimes of several bodybuilders. I also know several people who say that sit-ups are useless, and they do more harm than good. Now, on one side you have expert bodybuilders doing sit-ups regularly, and on the other side you have people criticizing sit-ups, why does such an antithesis exist? Well, the answer is simple, if you do not do a sit-up right, you will never benefit from it. A wrong sit-up will just cause fatigue, and it may also injure your back. What Can Sit-ups Do for You This is the first question that you should ask, before actually including sit-ups in your workout routine. The prejudice that sit-ups solely can get you those "six-packs" easily, is wrong! The purpose is to strengthen your abs, and not to burn the flab on your tummy. A lot of people think that fat loss can be localized, and this misconception leads them to believe that, they can rid of the fat on their stomach by doing sit-ups. The point you should realize here is that doing them will strengthen your midsection, but you will not be able to see a single "pack", if you do not perform exercises that will facilitate the overall body-fat burning. One more thing, sit-ups and crunches are not exactly the same! What is the Right Way of Doing Sit-ups? Sit-ups are a very common sight in the gym, but if you observe keenly, you will find that most of the sit-ups are going wrong. This is a reason why you find people who do 50 sit-ups a day, for several months, but still find no heartwarming results. To get the best results, you should know the right way of doing a sit-up. Here is the apt way:

• Lie on a padded surface, completely flat.
• Bend your knees, such that they roughly make an angle of 90 degrees.
• Keep shoulder distance between your feet.
• Your feet should be completely flat on the ground.
• You can keep your hands parallel to the floor, or on your chest, or just rest your fingers on the back of your head.
• Now slowly raise your torso towards your knees.
• Make sure that you are just using the abdominal muscles.
• Hold your position, when you reach approximately 40-50 degrees above the surface, for 5 seconds.
• Then slowly go back to the surface.
• Remember to exhale while going up, and inhale while returning to the surface.
• Do minimum 5 repetitions, in the beginning stage, you can increase the repetitions later.

How to Get the Best Results? Here are a few things that you should remember to optimize the results:

• Increasing the speed of the movement of your sit-ups is useless.
• Ask someone to hold your feet firmly while you are doing a sit-up.
• Do not jerk, and keep the movement as slow as possible.
• You can increase the intensity of your sit-ups once you feel comfortable.
• Sit-ups with straight legs may cause problems to your back, so avoid them.
• If your stomach is full, never do a sit-up, else you might throw up!
• Accompanying twists (like right elbow to left knee) with sit-ups is not beneficial.
• The bending of the knees is to avoid the influence of the hip flexors, in the sit-ups.
• Do not interlock your fingers behind your head while doing a sit-up.
• In addition to sit-ups, perform other fat-loss exercises.
• I recommend you to take half a minute gap between each set.
• Sit-ups should be done regularly, to get the desired results.

It is not difficult to do sit-ups, the right ones will strengthen your abs. If you experience any back pain while doing them, stop! Sit-ups coupled with a good exercise routine will give you fabulous abs that you always dreamed of.