Sit Ups, Bad Posture, Wonder Woman & My Fave Core Exercise

I HATE sit ups but I love the Dead Bug. 

Also- I hate the dead bug.

Ok- why do I hate sit-ups?  First off it's personal.  My parents were killed by a sit up.

Sit ups suck because:
- You only work for half the exercise. 
- They put a ton of unnecessary torque on your spine and neck.
- They encourage crummy posture.  

Who has great posture?  Wonder Woman.

I don't own that pic, but screw it.  The image police probably aren't reading our newsletter yet. If they are, well hey, I'm impressed.  Sue me.  Take half.  

Back to WW.  She stands tall.  Shoulders back.  Chest proud.  Everything she is doing is the exact opposite of what you're doing in a sit up.  Did you know there are studies that prove Wonder Woman posture benefits your self esteem and job performance.  WHOA!  What was that sound?  Apparently a few bullshit meters just went off so HERE's a link to back that up.

How ya like me now?

The S.A.I.D principle tells us that the body Specifically Adapts to Imposed Demands.  You're already adapting for bad posture when you sit hunched over your screens, hunched over your steering wheel, or hunched over on your couch watching Netflix.  But go ahead, add a few thousand setups to that postural nightmare.  They won't affect you at all.

But Steve my abs burn when I do sit ups.  I can feel I'm burning belly fat.

Riiiiiight.  Let me cure you of that common misconception.  I'll let Dr. Allen Conrad explain the muscle burn:
"When you exercise very intensely, your muscles can't get all the oxygen needed to break down glucose for energy quick enough, so lactic acid accumulates in muscles and spills over into the bloodstream."  That's your burn.  Lactic acid.  Not fat
.
Also-  You can't control where you body burns fat from.
That's called spot reduction.  If it were true 90% of us would be fatter on our left side.  Now that you know this you can call BULLSHIT on every trainer you see claiming their workout targets belly fat.  

Want to know what makes me want to scream?  The word Chillax.  Absolutely the worst "word" ever created.  Know what else wants to make me scream?  When some good looking insta fitness model with a million more followers than me claims he's designed a program to target your belly fat.

Let's bring it full circle.  Wonder Woman is great.  Sit ups suck.  We deserve more insta followers and If anyone says chillax while in Train they're getting chucked.  Try me.

That brings us to Dead Bugs.  The exercise, not the bugs.  Like sit ups Dead bugs suck, just not in the same way.

Dead bugs create a strong core without placing undue pressure on the spine.  You'll even feel a burn in your abs (hence the suck).

I'm not going to waste any time describing how to do a dead bug.  Instead I've gone through the trouble of making some videos depicting my favorite dead bug variations.  Who loves you more than me?

Basic Dead Bug
Dead Bug w a press
Banded Dead Bug
Dead Bug with a block

 It is simple.
It is elegant.
There are dozens of variations and they'll work you harder, and safer, than those useless sit ups.

And you know who does Dead Bugs?  None other than Wonder Woman herself.

Boom!  Full circle!

If you need any help with posture, or learning how to Dead Bug our Trainers will be more than happy to help.  Click the button below and let's get moving.