Janda Sit-Up

How to perform

1. 01Position your body on the floor in the basic sit-up position; knees to a ninety degree angle with feet flat on the floor and arms either crossed over your chest or to the sides. This will be your starting position.
2. 02As you strongly tighten your glutes and hamstrings, fill your lungs with air and in a slow (three to six second count) ascent, slowly exhale. Tip: It is important to tighten the glutes and hamstrings as this will cause the hip flexors to be inactivated in a process called reciprocal inhibition, which basically means that opposite muscles to the contracted ones will relax.
3. 03As you inhale, slowly go back in a controlled manner to the starting position.
4. 04Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Form cues

• —Lead with the elbows and finish by squeezing the target muscle.
• —Control the lowering phase — that is where most of the growth stimulus lives.

Common mistakes

• —Using momentum instead of the target muscle.
• —Cutting the range of motion short to add load.