Janda Sit Ups?

[popsider]

OK I've been trying these out since Ironfist mentioned them - but I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out if I am doing them right. They feel really awkward - I am having trouble keeping my feet on the floor so I wondered what I am doing wrong.

You are supposed to bend the knees about 90 degrees - can the angle be less than that ?

It says apply pressure to your partner's hands - is that pulling back towards you or outward pressure ? Is your partner holding you down or just resisting the pressure you are applying ?

I've seen some sites recommend you sit right up - others half way up - anyone got an opinion?

Thanks

[IronFist]

OK I've been trying these out since Ironfist mentioned them - but I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out if I am doing them right. They feel really awkward - I am having trouble keeping my feet on the floor so I wondered what I am doing wrong.

The reason your feet want to come up is because you are used to using your hip flexors to help you sit up. Since the hip flexors lift the legs, if you engage them when you do a situp your legs will have a tendency to come up. This is why some people put their feet under something to make it easier when they do a situp... they can get more leverage with their hip flexors that way which equates to the abs doing even less work.

(I thought that was worthy of being bolded, since so many of us in gym class were told to "have a partner hold our feet down.")

You are supposed to bend the knees about 90 degrees - can the angle be less than that ?

It doesn't really matter. Just have them bent close to 90 degrees. Around 90 degrees is ideal, however. I would assume that about 90 degrees allows for optimal contraction of the hamstrings without making it difficult to press down with you feet. Once you understand the movement and see what it feels like, you will be able to determine the ideal position for you.

It says apply pressure to your partner's hands - is that pulling back towards you or outward pressure ? Is your partner holding you down or just resisting the pressure you are applying ?

The partner pulls your calves toward HIM. You pull back against his pressure so that your calves don't move at all. This engages the hamstrings and deactivates the hip flexors (unless you consciously flex them, which most people can't do without practice so don't worry about this).

You will still have a tendency to lift your feet up, but you MUST counter this by pushing your feet down into the ground. If your feet come up at all it means you are using your hip flexors and not doing the exercise properly.

If I wrote the article, I would have said pull your feet against your partner's pulling AND PUSH YOUR FEET DOWN INTO THE GROUND.

I've seen some sites recommend you sit right up - others half way up - anyone got an opinion?

I'd go as high as you can. The reason you don't go all the way up with crunches is because going higher than about half way causes the hip flexors to come into play. With Janda situps the hip flexors have been taken out so any amount that you go up is entirely your abs.

btw, if you think they're easy it means you're doing them wrong. Almost no one can even do one complete rep their first time. Watch your feet. Keep them pressed DOWN. Do NOT have your partner push them down because then you can just push against his hands. You push your own feet down. If you're using a partner he only touches the back of your calves.

Once you get a feel for the movement you can do it without a partner by pulling your feet towards you and pushing them into the ground.

Hope I explained it better this time,

IronFist

[popsider]

Thanks - that is a better explanation than I could find on any of the web sites.

[BananaMan]

is it possible to do these solo? i dont have a partner but when i did them by myself, it didnt seem that hard. i pushed my feet down and slowly rose my torse trying to use only the ab muscles. i did alot though. i stopped at 15 cause i figured if i did that many, maybe i'm doing them wrong or have to have a partner

[BananaMan]

oh but to help i put a sneaker under my feet and as i did one, i looked at the sneaker to make sure i was pressing my feet down. its easy to tell cause the sneaker would be squished

[popsider]

I'm having similar problems - they don't seem *that* hard - I guess I am doing them wrong - I'm using a partner to hold the legs, keeping my feet on the floor and pulling my calves towards me. I'll keep trying though - as with some exercises it may take a bit of time to get it right but when you do you know it.

[Kempo Guy]

Ironfist can probably explain this way better than I can but when I first started doing the Janda's I thought they were easy as well. Until I learned it properly... (I got Pavel's video).

Some of the mistakes I was making was:
1. going to fast, i.e. using momentum to carry me up, I usually use a count of 5 (one one thousand, two one thousand etc.) going up and 5 going down.
2. I was not using body tension when going up. This means you want to tighten your glutes, inside of your thighs (as if you are squeezing a soccerball between your knees). This is in addition to driving your heels down, and pulling your calves towards you slightly (if you have a partner).
3. make sure to keep your lower back flush to the ground.
4. roll up (as if doing a crunch, except you go all the way up) instead of bending at the 'hips' and pulling up using the hip flexors.
5. use power breathing

Perhaps, Ironfist or someone else can elaborate on some of this. At least these were some things that I adjusted which made the Janda's a lot tougher.

KG