How To Do Weighted Decline Sit Ups

Weighted decline situps can become an effective addition to your abdominal-strengthening routine. This exercise mainly works your rectus abdominis and also engages your obliques. The slanted position of your body on the decline bench forces you to combat gravity more so than when you do situps on the floor. Holding a weight during the exercise increases the resistance even more and makes for a greater challenge.

Instructions

    • 1

      Warm-up your abdominals with targeted exercises, such as torso rotations. Take on a shoulder-width stance and rotate your torso to the left and right. As you get comfortable with the range of motion, make the movement bigger by swinging your arms and rotating your hips in the direction that you're twisting. Rotate 15 times to each side.

    • 2

      Perform side bends as part of your warm-up. While in a shoulder-width stance, extend your arms along your sides. Then bend sideways to your left as far as you comfortably can. You should feel a stretch along the right side of your waistline. Slowly return to an upright stance and repeating the exercise on your other side. Complete 15 repetitions on each side.

    • 3

      Position an adjustable decline bench so it's at an angle between 30 to 45 degrees. Take into consideration that the steeper the angle, the greater the level of difficulty.

    • 4

      Sit on the bench with your knees bent over the top edge and your lower legs anchored under the leg pads. Place a weight plate on your chest and cross your arms over it so you can grasp the edge of the plate with your hands to hold it in place. Then slowly lower your back and shoulders on the bench. Alternatively, have a spotter place a weight plate on your chest once you're face-up on the bench.

    • 5

      Tighten your abdominals to protect your back, and then, slowly flex your hips and raise your shoulder blades and back off the bench until your upper body is vertical. Exhale during this upward movement.

    • 6

      Extend your hips slowly and lower your back and shoulder blades toward the bench. Inhale during this motion and avoid touching the bench with your back or lying down to rest; instead, just hover your back 1 to 2 inches above the bench so your abdominals stay engaged the entire time. Immediately go into the next repetition. Gradually work your way up to completing three sets of 10 to 25 repetitions.