janda situps: about as hard as a pedophile in an old folks home

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

basics of the janda situp .... http://www.cbass.com/HardestSitup.htm

has anyone esle try these out? i been having a little bit of difficulty fingering them out just right. i do them ... and its harder because im going slower ... but i dont see any major difference.

i did some searching and a simialr thread was started on a rock climbing thread:

Hardly felt any different at all, so the other day got my friend to place his hands at the back of my calves and pulled while I kept my foot flat on the floor and stopped him from lifting my legs up. Same thing, that didn't do much to make the situps any more difficult. ..... I have some super abs I didn't know about, I'm probably doing it wrong.

http://www.rockclimbing.com/topic/103593

also found another post written on a different site where the guy apparently doesnt like them at all:

[quoteTaking all this together, and giving Pavel the benefit of the doubt that
he is not an out and out fraud. I can only come to one conclusion.

He's an idiot.
[/quote]

http://www.weightsnet.com/weights/issue/2373

if anyone has anything to add that would be awesome.

[SevenStar]

have you checked the training forum? I remember talk about janda situps there.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

my bad ... i just always ask here cause it gets more traffic.

[IronFist]

I thought this was the training forum. Did someone move this thread?

Anyway, if Jandas are easy, you're doing them wrong.

Here's my advice: don't have your partner pull your calves toward him. Have him pull them UP and toward him at a 45 degree angle. This will force you to pull your legs toward you AND DOWN. This seems to make your hamstrings activate more which will force your hip flexors to relax which will isolate your abs.

They say that Jandas get harder as you get better at them, and it's true.

Here's how they work: When a muscle contracts against a load, its antagonists relax. So if you're doing biceps curls, your triceps relax by definition. Now, if you contract NOT against a load, then both muscles will fire. If you flex your biceps, your triceps will also flex. I think this is a built-in mechanism to prevent your body from tearing itself apart. But if you contract against a load, the antagonis relaxes (unless you consciously flex it).

Therefore, if you contract your hamstrings, your hip flexors will relax. Since your hip flexors help out quite a bit during situps, if you can force them to relax, it will make your abs work a lot harder, which will make them stronger.

Make sense?

[IronFist]

Oh, there's kind of a way to do Jandas without a partner.

Get a phone book or something thick and somewhat heavy like that, and put it between your knees while you're doing situps. Put your feet further apart than your knees. Squeeze your knees together (crushing the phonebook) as hard as you can, and PUSH YOUR HEELS DOWN AND TOWARD YOU INTO THE FLOOR while you try to do a situp. Go slowly. If you can come up easily, you're doing it wrong. It actually is kind of dependent upon how well you can feel your muscles working, but you'll get better at it as you practice.

Good luck.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

i guess i understand the theory better than the application ... i read pavels bullet proof abs ... but just having a hard time doing them right.

ill try the 45 degree angle when i lift tonight and the phone book thing tomorrow.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

.... oh and seven did move it for me.

im sure my thread title may have had a little to do with it but it was too funy to resist.

[fa_jing]

If you just get in the regular situp position and put your feet flat on the floor, unassisted, and do the situp without breaking the feet from the floor, no rocking or momentum you will find it more difficult and closer to a Janda than a regular situp. Put a rolled up towel under your lower back or just stack your hands under your lower back for extra difficulty.

Although, I think good ole incline situps with 10 lbs held behind the head are real nice for the abs.

[Becca]

Originally Posted by fa_jing

... Although, I think good ole incline situps with 10 lbs held behind the head are real nice for the abs.

These are my favorite! 'Specially when you look over your sholder just before going down. Regular sit ups work well, but I need to do 20 before I even start to feel them. But I start to feel incline sit-up after about 5 or 6. Strength training time can be a bugger for me to find, so anything that helps me get the proper burn faster is good.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

do you guys mean a decline situp ... like on a decline bench? or am i missin something?

[Becca]

No, it's the same thing. You put a lifting bench at an incline/decline position, and put you legs over the raised side. Start in the up position.

Another I'm fond of is what I call reverse sit ups. I lay belly down on a lifting bench with my torso hanging out. Then I lower torso down and back up as high as I can go, then back to level. That is one rep.

[stubbs]

Maybe try the janda sit up with legs straight so when your partner pulls up you’re also contracting the gluteal muscles. To reciprocally inhibit the hip flexors (mainly the illiopsoas) you need to contract the hip extensors which include the hamstrings as well as the gluteals. I think legs straight might target the gluteal region more than legs bent. I haven’t tried it but might be worth having a play with.

[stubbs]

Ah just read the janda sit up article a bit more. I think legs bent works well but would require some skill from the person pulling on the legs to understand that the glutes need working as well as the hams.

Like Iron said:

'don't have your partner pull your calves toward him. Have him pull them UP and toward him at a 45 degree angle. This will force you to pull your legs toward you AND DOWN.'