How to do the Decline Sit-Up
Step by step
- Sit on a decline bench and hook your feet under the pads or rollers.
- Lie back with your hips higher than your head, hands across your chest.
- Curl up one segment of your spine at a time toward your knees.
- Reach the top, then reverse the motion slowly.
- Lower your upper body back down under control, one segment at a time.
The thing people get wrong
Roll up smoothly instead of jerking up in one piece. If your neck strains, keep your chin gently tucked rather than pulling your head.
Coaching cue
Control the way down even more than the way up; that is where the abs work hardest.
Stay safe
Your head is below your hips here, so sit up slowly at the end and stop if you feel dizzy.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Set a shallower decline, or do the sit-up flat on the floor.
- Harder: Steepen the decline.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Core
- Secondary: Hips
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.