Plate Overhead Sit-Up
Keeping the plate overhead lengthens the lever and forces the rectus abdominals to work harder while the shoulders and lats stabilize the load. It builds trunk strength that transfers to overhead lifting and carries. Keep the arms locked so the abs, not momentum, raise you up.
- Equipment
- Plate
- Body part
- Abs
- Type
- Functional, Strength
- Browse by muscle
- Upper Rectus Abdominals, Lower Rectus Abdominals
- Browse by movement
- Spinal Flexion
- Target
- Upper Rectus Abdominals, Lower Rectus Abdominals
- Secondary
- Abdominal External Oblique, Deltoid Anterior
- Tertiary
- Rectus Femoris
How to do it
- 1
Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat, and press a plate straight overhead.
- 2
Keep the arms locked out and the plate stacked over your shoulders.
- 3
Brace the abs and curl up into a full sit-up, driving the plate toward the ceiling.
- 4
Keep the arms vertical the whole way up rather than letting the plate drift forward.
- 5
Lower under control back to the floor without dropping the plate.
- 6
Exhale as you rise and inhale as you descend.
Tips
- Keep the plate stacked over the shoulders, not out in front, to protect the lower back.
- Move slowly enough that the abs do the work instead of swinging up.
- Anchor the feet lightly; if the hip flexors take over, tuck the pelvis first.
Variations
Common mistakes
- Elbows bend as the set goes on and the plate settles toward the forehead, which quietly turns an overhead sit-up into a chest-held one.
- The plate drifts behind the head at the bottom of each rep, pulling the lower back off the floor into an arch before the rep has even started.
- Heels lift and the feet slide in toward the hips to help the torso up, so the hip flexors take the job the abs were meant to do.
- Holding the plate with a loose grip over your face is one slip from a broken nose; grip it firmly by the rim with locked arms stacked over your shoulders, and pick another core exercise on a day when your grip is fried from pressing.
- The chin stays jammed into the chest for the whole rep, which tires the neck and cuts the curl short at the top.
Frequently asked
- How many plate overhead sit-ups should you do when you are new to the exercise, and how heavy?
- Three sets of 8 to 10 with a 5 to 10 kg plate, two seconds up and two down, resting a minute. Get 12 clean sit-ups with the arms held straight overhead and no weight before you add a plate at all. Move up in 2.5 to 5 kg steps, and only once the plate stays stacked over your shoulders for every rep of every set.
- What can I hold instead of a plate for the overhead sit-up?
- A dumbbell held by one head, a kettlebell upside down by the handle, or a medicine ball all work, and a backpack with a couple of books in it is the home version. A plate is the easiest of these to keep flat and stacked over the shoulders. With no weight at all, reaching both arms overhead and keeping them beside your ears through the whole rep already makes a sit-up much harder.
- Who is the plate overhead sit-up for, and when is something else the better pick?
- Holding a load overhead lengthens the lever, so the abs work harder at the bottom of every rep, and it builds the trunk strength that overhead lifting and carrying depend on. It suits lifters who already sit up comfortably with a plate on the chest. It is a poor choice for anyone who cannot get the arms fully overhead without the ribs lifting, since the plate will drift forward and the low back will take over, and a poor choice if repeated folding bothers your back, where a loaded carry trains the same overhead stability without it.
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