Mastering the Atlas Sit-up

[Greg Newton]

Years ago I used to read the original Iron Man magazine. In its pages you’d often see how to articles by genetically typical unknowns who through trial and error found things that worked for them. I learned a lot from those articles, so in that same spirit, I want to offer some experiences with the Atlas sit-up.

Atlas sit-ups are a whole body exercise, working the abdomen, hips, and hip flexors. If done properly, it will add flexibility to the muscles of the back and the spine. In my training history, sit-ups have never been an easy exercise. The way I am built, with prominent gluteus maximus, doesn’t provide for much leverage for raising my torso. The guys who excel at sit ups tended to have little in the hip and butt area, and can rise straight up without fighting poor leverage.

I also found two conflicting areas of advice when it came to doing abdominal exercises. One, from the late Vince Gironda said that daily abdominal exercises and high reps would build the muscles up too thick, and that you dieted for abdominal development. The other extreme from Arnold said that contrary to what scientific researchers said, he and other champion bodybuilders from the seventies found that high repetitions burned fat off the waist.

I followed the Gironda line of thought and never worked abdominals much. Along the way, in direct conflict with Gironda’s advice, I developed a protruding stomach from a decade of twenty rep squatting and indiscriminant eating. Over the last few years, that protruding stomach has really bugged me. John’s advice was to concentrate on the seated stomach roll, which helped, especially in controlling the muscles to keep them in. I still do the standing version daily.

However, I needed something more. Military sit ups with the feet anchored kill my lower back and for me cause spinal compression. But, if I did the Atlas sit ups and concentrated on rolling my spine vertebrae by vertebrae as I raised up, I could do a few of these without problem. At first I had to do the version where I stretched my arms back and pulled them forward to bring my torso up. Otherwise I would not have been able to pull my torso up under muscular control.

My flexibility in my hips, lower back, and in the muscles that attach to the lower spine was shot from my years of barbell squatting and dead-lifting. It took time, over two years, for those muscles to start to limber up. I started with sets of ten and worked to sets of 25. Gradually the sit ups got easier and I started doing the version where you clasp your hands at the sides of your head and sit up. Another thing that can help is doing the Atlas sit ups on a bed or large trampoline. I prefer doing them on a carpeted floor because I can control my hip and spine movement better, but occasionally I do them on the bed.

There is also nothing mindless about high repetitions. For an exercise to work, your mind must be on every rep. As I sit up, I exhale and concentrate on concaving my stomach. As someone with a history of damage to the lower vertebrae, I have to be careful not to force out the reps. This summer I worked up to doing 4X25 in the Atlas sit ups and 4X25 with ninety degree leg raises. This was done in the evenings. In the morning, because the synovial fluid that lubricates your joints wouldn’t be flowing yet, I’d do crunches and bent leg raises instead.

Currently I only do the evening workout and there have been change in appearance since this summer. The stomach is still getting smaller. The pants size from spring to winter has changed from 36 to 32. Has it been any one thing? No, it is the synergistic effect of all the exercise I do. I believe the Tee’s and my other exercises have played a part in strengthening and lifting the abdominal muscles as well. Diet has also played a part, but not as big a part as you’d think. I also concentrate on the abdomen on doing any DSR or DVR and pull my stomach in on the exhale. But, the Atlas sit up has definitely played its role and will always be a key player in my workouts.

I find myself stronger in the so called core, more flexible, and a whole lot less pain free in the mornings than I have in times past. In fact, the longer I do Transformetrics the more I am surprised at the layers of discomfort I peel off that I’ve been carrying around for years and took for granted. In seems like every six months or so I suddenly realize I feel different and don't hurt in some area of my body anymore.

[Hank_Z]

Greg,

Thanks so much for all the information. That really helps. And congrats for fitting into a size 32 pair of slacks! I'd .love to see that day again. Great job of sticking with it!:highfive:

- Hank

[mts]

Great post and I agree with you observations. I'd read my entire life that straight-leg situps (Atlas situps) were terrible for your back and that you should have a bend in the knee and do crunches/situps with the feet affixed. That always hurt my back as my legs would be pulling, my stomach contracting and the "pull" tended to focus the conflcting leg/ab muscles on my back.

When I first saw John demonstrating the Atlas situp in PYTP, I remember thinking "wow, this guy is old school and out of touch." Was I ever wrong. Once I did it I instantly fell in love with this move. It is probably my single most favored ab exercise.

As a routine however I still love the PYTP section with the 10 ab exercises w/ iso stops. These are tremendous in my opinion.

[John Peterson]

Hey Gregory,


Wow! What a great post! Personally, I could not agree more. I have performed my Atlas Sit-Ups with feet unpinned down since I was a kid. These require concentration and muscular control or 'you ain't gonna do it'. As a result my waistline is every bit as 'ripped' and exactly the same measurement at age 56 as it was at age 18.

Needless to say, what you have accomplished in terms of re-hab and turning the clock back is extraordinary. You have seen and experienced first hand why mind/muscle exercise is vastly superior for the purpose of lifelong health, strength, physique, and virility to all other forms of amplified gravity based exercise. And you my friend are the living proof. Thanks for a great post.

---John Peterson

[Viking Dan]

I also found two conflicting areas of advice when it came to doing abdominal exercises. One, from the late Vince Gironda said that daily abdominal exercises and high reps would build the muscles up too thick, and that you dieted for abdominal development. The other extreme from Arnold said that contrary to what scientific researchers said, he and other champion bodybuilders from the seventies found that high repetitions burned fat off the waist.

Gironda believed that sit ups shock the solar plexus or something and retard growth. Some of his opinions were really out there. Unleashing The Wild Physique is a fascinating read though. Some of his ideas are pretty interesting. Particularly about using thumbless grips on pulling movements.

As for Arnold's advice, research has pretty much proven that spot reducing doesn't work.

[JoeJustice]

This whole spot reduction thing is really fascinating to me. It seems to be put to bet with modern research, but the old timers and modern trainers that use the old timer's systems seem to go against the research. Greg is just one of many men I have read the supports the idea of spot reductions and I've seen tons and tons of women support spot reduction on the gluteus maximus. Yet science seems to say, "No."

Greg or John, I'm wondering what you think of the version of the sit-up where you twist back and forth at the top of the movement. There was a Rocky marathon on this weekend and that move seems to be in every boxer's workout montage! :) It totally makes sense for a boxer needing to have the rotational ability, but what about as just a regular exercise?

-Joe

[GB]

Greg,

I’m not sure what you are referring to when you mentioned the seated stomach roll. Could you describe this exercise, is it in PYTP?

Thanks


GB

[MikeNY]

Fantastic post Greg and guys! Joe your right every boxer does that Atlas situp!

[Greg Newton]

Hi Joe,

At this point and time I would risk injury if I did the Atlas sit-ups with a twist. However, if you had the flexibility to do so, and I've seen some of my more fit students do so during their P.T., I don't see that it would hurt. The thing to guard against is momentum that would over stretch tendons and ligaments that hold the spine in place.

I also see I wasn't the only one glued to the tube this past Sunday! I'm still a sucker for Rocky I and Rocky III.

Hi Gerry,

The seated ab roll is the same as the standing version only seated. I found it easier with the seated version to hold the vaccum for a longer period of time and could get a stronger contraction.

Also Guys,

I am not so sure about spot reducing being a myth. Since winter kicked in I've been eating more starchy carbs and fat, yet my waist size is still getting smaller. Perhaps once your body reaches a certain point in conditioning, it burns more fuel, and if you concentrate on a specific area, that is the area that burns the most fat. I don't know. But one thing I do know, Atlas sit-ups strengthen your core and this is the kind of training I should have been doing all a long for athleticism and fitness.

[kelbiz]

Atlas situps are much tougher to do than having your feet tucked under something. Another example of the simple beauty of "old school" training.

Jack

[Viking Dan]

I am not so sure about spot reducing being a myth. Since winter kicked in I've been eating more starchy carbs and fat, yet my waist size is still getting smaller. Perhaps once your body reaches a certain point in conditioning, it burns more fuel, and if you concentrate on a specific area, that is the area that burns the most fat. I don't know. But one thing I do know, Atlas sit-ups strengthen your core and this is the kind of training I should have been doing all a long for athleticism and fitness.

That doesn't mean spot reducing works. You could be eating less calories overall or burning more through exercise or some combination.

People lose fat uniformly from all over their bodies when the lose weight. Most of us have a tendency to store a greater percentage of our body fat around our middles which is why it seems to be the last area to tighten up, but that's just an illusion.

Doing a botalod of crunches or whatever may hold your gut in better, but it wont make your skinfold at waist level any lower.

[Greg Newton]

Doing a botalod of crunches or whatever may hold your gut in better, but it wont make your skinfold at waist level any lower.

Hey Dan,

Boatloads of crunches don't and won't work. But, a full body exercise like Atlas Situps might. Once again I don't know. I can't knock what I am seeming to experience or what others have experienced. If you are carrying a lot of bodyfat, I can't see so-called spot reducing work. But, if your metabolism is set for a certain level of conditioning, it is possible that the area you concentrate on will see more results. I know that on the opposite side, not working the abdominals and depending on diet and general conditioning exercises did not work for me. I know what the current scientific thought is, but the scientific community has been wrong before. So, I have to respectfully disagree.

[Viking Dan]

As long as what you're doing works, the why is secondary.

Another reason abdominal fat is hard to lose is that the blood flow to the area is pretty poor. *Perhaps* very high rep work creates enough new capillaries to offset that, but I've yet to see anything confirming it.

In any event, I don't want to rain on your parade. Great job, man.

[Viking Dan]

Danish Scientists Showed That Spot Reducing Works!

For years, scientists told athletes that spot reducing doesn't work. For example, you can't lose arm fat by doing curls and triceps extensions. These conclusions were based on volumetric studies that estimated changes in lean mass and fat in the arms and legs following weeks of specific exercises in those areas. Danish researchers, led by Dr. Bente Stallknecht from the Panum Institute in Copenhagen, showed that spot reducing is effective. Researchers used radioactive tracers (133Xe) to measure changes in fat mass during high-rep knee extensions, which is more sensitive than measuring density changes in the arms and legs. Researchers also studied blood flow and fat breakdown in fat tissue adjacent to working muscles and in fat tissue around inactive muscles in the other leg. After 30 minutes of doing knee extensions with one leg, subjects switched legs and did knee extensions for 120 minutes using more weight. Blood flow and fat breakdown were greatest around the working muscles. The study researchers concluded that specific exercises could cause "spot reducing" because blood flow and fat use was higher in adipose (fat) tissue adjacent to working muscles. Spot reducing was most effective at higher intensities because it generated more heat in the muscles and triggered a higher release of catecholamines (fight-or-flight hormones, such as adrenaline). This was an exciting study for bodybuilders that overturned longstanding beliefs about spot reducing. The take-home message is that spot reducing works. High-rep, high-weight exercises reduce local fat stored best. (American Journal Physiology Endocrinology Metabolism, 292: 394-399, 2007)

http://ajpendo.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/292/2/E394?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=spot+reduction&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT

I don't think I'd want to do 2 hours of sit ups to achieve the effect though.

[tom]

I'm glad this thread was brought back. I just started what might be a routine of Atlas Sit-ups.

The un-anchored feet give me trouble, my stomach is plenty strong as evidenced by hanging crunches. L-sits, etc. However, my feet want to come up as I sit up. I keep thinking that my legs are too light - the stomach pulls the legs up and the heavier torso stays down. I have been able to do a couple of strict smooth ones, so I guess if I can do one I can do a million.

I'll keep at it.

Tom

[Greg Newton]

Hi Tom,

Being able to keep the feet down will come in time. In the beginning I was doing sets of 8-10 at first. Wearing heavy shoes helps grip the floor slightly.

Dan,

Thanks for the article on spot reducing. I was just reading this morning about Billy "Superstar" Graham the professional wrestler. Billy was a Teen Mr. America back in the late fifties under his real name, Wayne Coleman. When he was a teen he got into bodybuilding and would do three sets of 500 situps. His friends would call him "Abs." Later on in his Professional Wrestling career he talked about dropping a hit of speed and doing 1500 leg raises and 500 situps before a match. Graham attributed his abdominal development to genetics, but he didn't exhibit the same development at other times in his career as a wrestler and football player.

Pictured below is Graham, believe it or not, during his late teens or possibly early twenties. The point is, Graham was a genetic standout who relied heavily on drug use, yet he still had to do hundreds of reps to enhance his development.

The point of training is to enhance your strengths and develop your weaknesses. Dan, from your pictures, you are lean and muscular with little bodyfat. Hundreds of repetitions in abdominal exercises would benefit you little. What you do now, with high intensity work on the core, is what you need. On the other hand, a middle-age guy like myself who let himself go for too many years with poor diet and the wrong exercises, has to reshift his metabolism as well as rebuild his strength. Hundreds of reps done in the right way are what I need.

P.S. - My wife made some succint comments on my post. She said she could do 1500 leg raises too if she took a hit of speed. She also went on and on about how gross that abdominal development was and that if I ever looked like that, she'd divorce me. Oh well, give me the C/A look anytime.

[JoeJustice]

When I do high number of atlas sit-up, say 100, by the end it's very difficult to keep my legs on the ground but when I start it's no problem. So there must me a muscular connection to doing this. I think there is an isometrics element here, I'm not an expert in anatomy so I'm not sure what muscles it might be, but I think there is muscle that is used to anchor your feet.

-Joe

[gruntbrain]

I have a theory that it's impossible to prove anything, but I can't prove it.

I apologize for the above forced humor. I'm guessing there are many ways to develop your abs at any age .
I'd further guess that satisfying ab development can occur without direct ab work like situps & crunches .

[Greg Newton]

Hey Grunt,

Some people come ready built with abdominal development, just like some have naturally developed calves or a peaked bicep they never trained for. A Mr. America from the seventies, Tony Pearson had beautiful rows of abdominals but had never worked them out; ever. That was just part of his genetic makeup. Others of us have to work hard to bring out our genetic potential.

[John Peterson]

Hey Greg Newton,

You must be thrilled with the lithe, sculpted waistline that you have developed.Your avatar photo looks fantastic to say the very least. But even more important is how the Atlas full range Sit-Ups and Leg Raises decompress the lower spine, allowing it to become pain free while dramatically enhancing virility. This is exactly why Noel Johnson performed 200 of each them each day in sets of 50. He also did the Atlas Style 8-count leg raise for 2 to 4 sets of 25.He believed that the abdominal exercises were the most important and vital of all and that is why his routine of 16 exercises included 12 for the abs and lower back specifically. But get this Greg, Noel also believed that the Atlas Push-Up which he did in sets of 25 to 30 was a fantastic abdominal exercise due to the Isometric component.

Bottomline: More than anything else the muscles of the waistline, lower back, and hips are the key to lifelong Virility. Noel spent two hours each day on his Virlity calisthenics that came straight from Charles Atlas and Paul C. Bragg including one Isometric exercise where he would lie on his exercise mat and raise his heels six inches off the mat and hold it right there for 3 to 5 minutes. Tough with a capitol 'T'.

---John Peterson
P.S. My wife thought the Wayne Coleman ab development was exceedingly unattractive.

[jldet5]

I'm glad this thread was brought back. I just started what might be a routine of Atlas Sit-ups.

The un-anchored feet give me trouble, my stomach is plenty strong as evidenced by hanging crunches. L-sits, etc. However, my feet want to come up as I sit up. I keep thinking that my legs are too light - the stomach pulls the legs up and the heavier torso stays down. I have been able to do a couple of strict smooth ones, so I guess if I can do one I can do a million.

I'll keep at it.

Tom

Don't know if it is allowed but I wear heavy boots or shoes for that reason.

[Greg Newton]

That is what I did at first. After a while I didn't need them anymore.

[tom]

It must be a coordination thing, then. Heavy boots are a piece of cake, like anchored feet. I have no back problems with anchored feet, legs bent or straight.

They remind me of the Janda sit-up, where you have to engage your hamstrings which disengage the hip flexors, leaving only the abs.

Tom

[gruntbrain]

Thumbs up for Jandas; use JP's PB (or an equivalent) around your ankles or calves & a fixed object to engage the hamstrings as you perform situps. Jandas are a good complement to Atlas situps; do both.

[Viking Dan]

...Dan, from your pictures, you are lean and muscular with little bodyfat. Hundreds of repetitions in abdominal exercises would benefit you little. What you do now, with high intensity work on the core, is what you need. On the other hand, a middle-age guy like myself who let himself go for too many years with poor diet and the wrong exercises, has to reshift his metabolism as well as rebuild his strength. Hundreds of reps done in the right way are what I need.

Thanks for the compliment. I'm never lean enough for my liking, but even if spot reducing does work, I think diet is a much more effective tool than banging out 100s of crunches.

[tom]

I just got back from kruddy work-out. Before class I lay down on the floor and started doing Atlas Sit Ups, no problem. Cool. Then my physical therapist buddy who knows a lot about physiology walked by and observed, "You must have a heavy proportion of weight on your legs to do those."

I said, "Last week I couldn't do any. It's got to be in the technique." He and I both learned something. I kept doing them until class started, still no problem. Weird, huh. It clicked.

On Friday I had worked semi-hard at them. I could do some but really needed to concentrate. On Sunday I had a strange feeling in the lower abdomen when I jumped, squatted, or even walked. It didn't feel like an injury, but I was wondering what could be wrong. It was not muscle soreness, but felt like joint pain . . . in the front of my stomach (no joints). I finally figured out today that it must have been some deep down core muscles, whatever they are. Another weird, huh. I feel fine today.

Next I'm going to do them like John and touch my chin to the floor, between my closed knees . . .

Tom

[MikeNY]

tom your doing core exercises now!

By the way great thread, loved reading along.

[Bookman]

I've really enjoyed reading this thread over the past several days. I admit that I'm pretty lazy doing ab workouts. Yesterday I took a serious crack at doing 100 Atlas situps. I tried 20 reps per set. The first two sets of 20, I did them with shoes on, and found that my shoes helped anchor my feet just enough to help me focus on keep my legs straight and feet on the ground. I took off my shoes on the third set and was only able to do 10 reps! My feet and legs wanted to raise up as I performed the situps. I did better on the fourth set, doing 20 reps, and finding myself concentrating harder to keep my feet and legs straight and on the floor. I struggled on the last two sets, only doing 10 reps per set until I completed 100 reps for that session. I definitely felt the difference with shoes off. I felt more muscles in my hips, torso, and buttocks coming into play. Anyway, I felt fine afterwards and went about my business for the rest of the day without feeling any soreness. However, this morning I am feeling the effects of those situps. I'm not super sore, but sore enough to know I got a pretty good workout. I'm going to try and stick with this routine for awhile and see what results I achieve. Thanks for starting this thread. It's been both instructional and inspirational!

[Bookman]

Greg, just for kicks I took your suggestion of doing the Atlas situps in bed this morning and found that my legs don't rise up while performing them on a mattress. Still, it was every bit as challenging as doing them on the floor. I'll probably do this for awhile until I'm strong enough to do them on the floor.