The Sit-Up Myth

Athlete Performance

“A strong core doesn’t come from crunching—it comes from controlling.”

Still Doing Sit-Ups? Read This First.

Let’s clear the air: sit-ups and crunches might not hurt your core—but they’re not helping it much either.

Hopefully you caught one of my recent emails where I talked about what the core is truly designed to do: transmit force.

Control and create motion.

That’s the foundation of real athletic performance.

The Core’s Real Job

When your core is trained to resist motion first, it can create more force second—and that’s a game-changer for performance, power, and injury prevention.

So it might be time to ditch the old-school crunches, sit-ups, and V-ups, and shift toward modern core training—movements that train your body the way it actually performs on the field or court.

Coach-Approved Core Builders

Here are a few of my go-to movements for building a powerful, functional core:

• Prone Planks – Foundation for anti-extension strength.

• Side Planks – Builds lateral stability and hip control.

• Modified V-Ups – Teaches control through full range.

• Greek God Press / Iso (advanced favorite) – Develops rotational control and total-body tension.

Greek God Iso Demo

For the Greek God Iso, try short holds of 5–10 seconds.
That’s long enough to build serious tension in your abs while keeping resistance high and quality sharp.

Final Thought

Your core isn’t meant to move endlessly—it’s meant to control motion and transfer force.

Train it that way, and you’ll move stronger, faster, and with fewer injuries.

Because great athletes don’t just build abs—they build function.

— Coach Shelby and The Shelby Trained Team