The remnants of gym and PE classes all over the country, sit ups are slowly going out of fashion as more and more people discover new methods to work out the abdominal muscles. A traditional sit up actually can do more harm than good, since ninety-nine percent of everyone exercising does it incorrectly. As they are “sitting up” they distend the belly, forcing the stomach muscle out, and creating a “gorilla” belly, a strong sheath of highly developed pooch. This defeats the entire purpose of a sit up, which is supposed to shrink the stomach and create four to six pack abs.

A better method to develop the abdominals is the plank. The plank is a Pilates move where you adopt the basic push up position and hold it, sucking the belly button up toward the spine. Sounds easy, but after a ten-fifteen count, you’ll be sucking wind. Rest your weight on your elbows and toes and fight gravity. Switch to the side plank, which holds the weight on one forearm while the other reaches for the sky. Again, squeeze the abdominal muscles in and hold tight for a ten-fifteen count. The plank can also be performed while standing, just suck in your stomach and clench it for a twenty count.

The plank works the stomach sheath across the whole abdominals instead of just the front muscles and is a great way to start working on a slim set of six pack abs.