How do I make sit-ups harder?

Use some padding and more weight?

Hang yourself upside down from a wall or ceiling.

Use a lighter weight and hold it out in front of you as you do your sit-up or what I do is use a medicine ball and on the way up I throw the ball up towards the ceiling and catch it when I get to the top. Do that for a serious challenge.

I recall reading the method taught by Bruce Lee. For the most part his exercises were, “weight free” he simply said, “Do more and apply more strength and exert it” in a nutshell.

How about gradually increasing your number of situps to 10?

Perhaps you could hold a 20-lb. dumbbell in each hand so that the shaft of each dumbbell is parallel to the corresponding humerus. That way you could minimize the contact between the weights and your clavicles.

I get about 140 to 160 sit-ups done in two minutes. That number decreases as my workout goes on as I’m working my arms like crazy and they get tired on the 4th two minute go around. I do the sit-ups between exercises for my biceps/triceps/back/shoulders/chest.

I’ve thought about holding weights over my head, as opposed to on my chest, but then I worry about how fatigued my arms get.

Why make it harder. Just increase reps. Over the long term, the benefit will be the same. Anyway, the more weight you add, the more muscle mass you develop. Do you really want large muscle mass in your ab region? No. You simply want strength, definition, and if you want a six pack, low body fat, which is another discussion.

@josie that’s why I went to getting as many sit-ups done in two minutes. But even that is getting too easy.

@tranquilsea Then I guess the real question is “What do you want to accomplish with your sit-ups?’ That may determine your next evolution.

I’m trying to avoid boredom. I’ve found that tracking the number/time/weight of different exercises keeps me motivated.

Try holding weight behind your head, like a 25 lb disc. Holding behind your head puts the weight farther away from the axis of rotation,so adds resistance.

@tranquilsea At your level of performance, you can pretty much make up your own variations to entertain yourself. It is sort of like having a lot of money. At some point, you can write your own ticket. If you are in olympic condition, you have earned the prerogative to create your own variations. I am in pretty good shape myself, and that is what I do. Your body only knows the demand to transform itself, not the specifics of your program. Pretty nice position to be in.

You are an animal!

@josie Is right on. Increase the time perhaps to three or even 4 minutes and or do the reps at a slightly faster rate. Also go for 6 sets. 35 pounds is a lot of weight and I wouldn’t increase that.

Keep up the great work!

@zenvelo that was going to be my next move as I know when I do things like chest flies, back flies etc. I have to lower the weights.

@ragingloli If I had the space to hang myself from the ceiling I would lol.

do ‘em reeeeeeaaaallll slow. completely shreds with pushups too.

Do your sit ups balanced on a 2×4 over a pit of rattle snakes.

Try doing them without anything holding your feet down.

A little off topic, but how are we getting “stability” and “ball” to stick together? The two concepts are practically antithetical.

My only recommendation is NEVER hang yourself by the feet from the ceiling when you are too fatigued to do a full jackknife. Waiting for 911 to send someone to cut you down is a bitch. Take my word for it. :-)

That’s an easy one. You could try them underwater. Or hogtie yourself, handcuff your hands behind your back, put your legs in splints, set yourself on fire and try to do them fast enough to put it out…... let’s see….. you could release a wild bobcat or an alligator or a flock of woodpeckers in your exercise room and try that. You could do some tequila shots, maybe a little bit of nitrous oxide, see what happens there. Dude, there’s so many things you could do to make situps harder, why is this even a question?

seriously though,dont try those things.

Do them on an inclined plane.

Hahaha @gambitking someone just had to spice things up with some good humor, love it! lol

Yes, and you can always come over here and I’ll throw farm animals on you. You can graduate in increments from 16 lb. cats to 175 lb. sheep, and when you’re in really good condition I’ll have the mule sit on your legs. lol

I’ve given this some thought. Do them while standing on your head. OK, there.

Ok, I tried holding a lesser weight over my head. I was fun finding my balance with that. It worked. The sit-ups were harder but what ached the most was my arms.

@Coloma lol

Do them under a bus.

Be 5’9” and weigh like 400 pounds. I sincerely believe that would make situps impossible.

You could always do situps on Jupiter. If you weigh 170 lbs here, you’d be 431.8 Lbs there, thus accomplishing @majorrich‘s suggestion without the negative impact of obesity.

LOL I was more thinking how to simulate doing situps whilest pregnant! But being morbidly obese works pretty good.

@majorrich I think @tranquilsea would find getting pregnant about as tough as getting to Jupiter.

The wife unit suggests strapping on a beach ball. lol

I’ve opting to go for as many situps I can managed in 3 minutes it turns out I can to a ton :-)