Having a flat tummy or six-pack abs not only enhances your overall look but also helps in improving your self-confidence.
When you are doing strength training to get strong and get toned abs then you can do sit-ups from the comfort of your own home.
But how many sit-ups should I do a day to get abs?
The thing is you have to do the number of sit-ups according to your fitness level. For beginners to intermediate level, you can do 15-25 sit-ups per set and you can do 3-4 sets. Whereas advanced-level exercisers need to do more than 100 sit-ups a day in total.
In this article, you will read in detail about how many sit-ups to do to get abs as per your fitness level and some guidelines you need to follow to build abs faster. I will also provide you with recommended sets and reps to do in your ab training so that you can get more out of your daily workouts.
- Difference Between Sit-Ups and Crunches
- How many sit-ups should I do a day to get abs?
- Proper Form and Technique for Sit-Ups to lose belly fat
- Sit-Up Sets and Reps from beginners to advanced level
- How many sit-ups should a woman do a day for a six-pack?
- How many sit-ups should I do a day to build muscle?
- Sit ups training, diet tips to make your abs visible
- Conclusion
Difference Between Sit-Ups and Crunches
Before you find out how many sit-ups you should do a day you need to have a clear idea of the difference between sit-ups and crunches.
Both crunches and sit-ups work your abdominal muscles but sit-ups target the abdominal muscles as well as the hip flexors, whereas crunches only focus on the abdominal muscles. If you want to do a full-body exercise then it’s best you do sit-ups. But if you want a less intense exercise to train your abs then you should do crunches.
Both of these exercises are bodyweight exercises to train your abdominal muscles but there are other weight training exercises that train your core.
Related: 1 Minute plank is equivalent to how many pushups.
How many sit-ups should I do a day to get abs?
If you want to lose stomach fat and get a flat stomach or build abs then you should do sit-ups as per your fitness level. Here are how many sit-ups a day you should do as a beginner, intermediate level and advanced level.
Recommended Number of Sit-Ups for Beginners to lose belly fat
If you are a beginner and just started doing strength training then you need to do 2-3 sets of sit-ups. In each set, you should try to do as many sit-ups as you could do so that you can get a six-pack faster. But for reference, you need to do 10-15 sit-ups per set.
Between each set, you can rest for 40 – 60 seconds.
To build abs and a strong core along with sit-ups you can do other ab exercises or cardio 4-5 days a week.
Recommended Number of Sit ups a day for Intermediate Exercisers
If you are at the intermediate level then you can train your abs and do sit-ups for 4-5 days a week.
You need to do three sets of sit-ups and in each set, you can do 15-25 sit-ups. But if you want to get better results then you need to do situps in each set till your body can’t do any more situps.
Between each set, you can rest for 40-60 seconds.
After every two weeks, you can increase the number of situps you do in each set. Also, you can add a fourth set after 2-3 weeks. Following a situp workout plan like this will help you improve your endurance and body strength.
For those who are in the intermediate level and can do more than 25 reps of situps comfortably without feeling too fatigued need to add a fourth set or increase the number of situps to do in each set.
With any exercise routine, it’s better that you listen to your body and adjust as needed and increase the difficulty gradually. It’s also recommended that you don’t push yourself too hard from the beginning of your training.
Recommended Number of Sit-Ups for Advanced Exercisers to get six-pack
For the advanced level increasing the number of situps you do in a day will help you to build abs faster. The recommended number of situps for you to do in a day is 75-100. You can hit this number by doing situps over 3-5 sets. Between each set, you can take 1-minute rest.
As an advanced-level exerciser, you are doing more situps so it’s recommended that you take adequate rest days in between your situp workout. You can train 3-4 days a week.
Proper Form and Technique for Sit-Ups to lose belly fat
To maximise your workout results it’s important that you do situps with the perfect form. When doing sit ups it’s important to keep your form and movement correct so that you can train your core muscles the right way.
Here’s how to do situps with proper form.
Lay on your back on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground. Then, place your hands behind your head and pull up as you curl your torso towards the pelvis. Your neck should be in line with your spine as if you were looking upwards.
For anyone who wants to do multiple sets of sit-ups, it’s important that they take some time to rest between each set so that they can maintain good form and build up strength over time. You can rest for 40-60 seconds after each set.
Related: Benefits of morning exercise before breakfast.
Sit-Up Sets and Reps from beginners to advanced level
Now that you have read how many sit ups to do for different fitness levels, let’s talk about sit-up sets and reps for beginners to advanced levels.
Beginners
For those who just started doing situps, it’s a good idea to start off small. As a beginner, you should do 2-3 sets of sit ups and try to do 10-15 situps.
If you are doing sit ups for the first time then it’s ok if you could do only 10 situps in your first set and then 5-7 situps in your second set.
Keep doing situps for 4-5 days a week and within some weeks you will get to the intermediate level.
Intermediate Level
Once you are at the intermediate level you should try to do 3 sets. And if you can comfortably do 3 sets then you need to do one additional set.
In each set, you need to try to do 15-25 situps with a 40-60 second break in between.
Advanced Level
If you’re an advanced exerciser, then aim for four to five sets of 25 to 50 reps with a 60-second break in between sets.
If you could do more than 100 situps a day then it will be easier for you to get a flat stomach and if you optimise your diet and do cardio then you could sculpt a six-pack abs.
Related: Morning pushups: Benefits, how many pushups to do in the morning
How many sit-ups should a woman do a day for a six-pack?
If you’re a woman, then the amount of sit-ups you should do a day depends on your fitness level. For female beginners, it is recommended to do one to two sets of 10 to 15 sit-ups. But if you are more advanced and have more strength, you can do two or three sets of 15 to 25 reps of sit-ups.
For those who are already at an advanced fitness level, you should be doing 3-4 sets of 25 to 50 repetitions per day. But if you do this many sit-ups in a day then you should train 3-4 times a week or it’s better to do sit-ups for two days in a row and then take the next day off.
When doing a high number of situps it’s important that you take rest days so that you are not overtraining your body.
When it comes to training for abs, consistency is key but you should not do a high number of situps every day.
How many sit-ups should I do a day to build muscle?
In order to get the most out of sit-ups, you must find the right balance between intensity and volume. In order to see progress in your core strength and muscle development, you can approach this exercise in a variety of ways based on your current fitness level.
Here are how many situps you need to do a day to build muscle as per your fitness level.
For beginners: 40-60 situps over 2-3 sets.
For intermediate level: 70-90 situps over three sets of sit-ups.
For the advanced level: 100 sit ups or more over 4-5 sets.
No matter what fitness level you are, be sure to adjust rest intervals based on your fatigue level and goals: for example, if you are trying to increase muscular hypertrophy, doing more reps but with short rest, periods may be beneficial.
Also, don’t forget to include other core exercises in your routine, such as planks or abdominal exercises that target different muscle groups. By doing this, you’ll round out your core strengthening routine and improve your fitness and health even more!
For muscle growth along with core training, you have to do upper body workout so that you can build your body with the right proportion.
Related: 7 Benefits of at-home workouts.
Sit ups training, diet tips to make your abs visible
When you are doing sit-ups and other upper body workouts it can fix your posture. But to make your abs visible you need to follow these tips.
Sit-ups is a good exercise to build abs but you need to follow a balanced diet and consume recommended amount of calories to build abs.
If you want to build abs then you should consume less than 3500 calories. But if you don’t live an active lifestyle then it’s better to only consume 2500 calories.
For those of you training your core but not seeing results and you have more body fat then you need to do cardio so that you can burn more calories.
When you adjust your diet and eat more lean proteins and lower your consumption of carbs and do strength-training then you can get your abs visible faster. Performing sit-ups can give you better results if you also consume good nutrition.
Conclusion
To answer the question, how many sit-ups should I do a day to build abs can get complicated if we don’t take into consideration of one’s fitness level.
For beginners, it’s recommended to do 20-35 sit-ups a day over 2-3 sets.
For the intermediate level, it’s recommended to do 40-60 situps in a day to build abs.
And for the advanced level, it’s recommended that they do more than 100 situps a day over 4-5 sets.
To get abs you need to make sure you are doing other core exercises along with situps. It’s hard to get abs from doing sit-ups alone. Because your diet, physical activity and workout all play a role when it comes to making your abs visible. Also to make your abs visible you have to lower your body fat percentage.
But with the right training and diet, you can build abs.
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