Anyone had experience with this exercise that can answer this question? I'm talking about the exercise wherein your partner is standing and you hold yourself off the floor with your closed guard and do sit-ups. This seems like a great training exercise for grappling, but with so many people these days claiming regular sit-ups will ruin your back, it really makes me wonder about this one.
Start halfway up. Dont let yourself down past that point. More like a crunch.
Sit ups are bad, running is bad, hypertrphy protocol is bad etc. These days people will claim everything is bad for you.
Its jiu-jitsu. Having your neck squeezed and joints twisted to the point of breaking isn't good for you either but we do it. 
^^^ Correct.
John Clarke - Sit ups are bad, running is bad, hypertrphy protocol is bad etc. These days people will claim everything is bad for you.
Its jiu-jitsu. Having your neck squeezed and joints twisted to the point of breaking isn't good for you either but we do it.
Good point
John Clarke - Sit ups are bad, running is bad, hypertrphy protocol is bad etc. These days people will claim everything is bad for you.
Its jiu-jitsu. Having your neck squeezed and joints twisted to the point of breaking isn't good for you either but we do it.
This guy gets it.
All my most serious and/or nagging injuries have come from grappling, not working out. Keep in mind my past working out injuries include such fantastic fails as horrible rookie max dead lift with rounded back and straight legs, collapsing under a squat machine (the one with the shoulder pads), and hitting myself with weights from all kinds of angles. If my main goal was to live a life free of injury or pain I would start a workout routine that consisted of some very light weight training, light running/swimming, and pilates. What kind of way is that to live though?
Keekaw - Anyone had experience with this exercise that can answer this question? I'm talking about the exercise wherein your partner is standing and you hold yourself off the floor with your closed guard and do sit-ups. This seems like a great training exercise for grappling, but with so many people these days claiming regular sit-ups will ruin your back, it really makes me wonder about this one.
Makes me wonder what kind of back workout those people are doing.
If you're working out your lower back too I really couldn't imagine a sit up being bad for you. 
Look. It's not about the sit up being bad. It is how it is done. If you simply curl up because you have weak ab muscles your low back has your body weight on it as you curl and you are sheering the lumbar against each other as they are being compressed.
If, however you do a sit up properly, keep you head and chin looking straight forward and keep your spine in a neutral position (not allowing it to flex) then you are pivoting at the pelvis rather than through your lumbar spine and your abs are doing all the work.
In addition, let me say that I fault cross fit for the current thinking that sit ups are bad for you. When it is more important that you do numbers rather than technique instead of building up technique slowly like you have to do in every other skilled activity, when you skip the skill part and just slam your body through poor mechanical positions then every exercise is bad for you.
if you don't engage your abs fully then you will put extra pressure on your back.
John Clarke - Sit ups are bad, running is bad, hypertrphy protocol is bad etc. These days people will claim everything is bad for you.
Its jiu-jitsu. Having your neck squeezed and joints twisted to the point of breaking isn't good for you either but we do it.
Fuckin right.
John Clarke - Sit ups are bad, running is bad, hypertrphy protocol is bad etc. These days people will claim everything is bad for you.
Its jiu-jitsu. Having your neck squeezed and joints twisted to the point of breaking isn't good for you either but we do it.
Yup.