仰臥起坐真的能幫你練就八塊腹肌嗎
As you lie on the ground with your hands behind your head and your knees bent, you lift your upper body towards your knees.
當你躺在地上，雙手置於腦袋下方，你彎曲雙膝，擡起上身靠近膝蓋。
That’s how you do a traditional sit-up, an exercise many of us have been doing since elementary school. However, the benefits of this abdominal workout are now in doubt.
這是傳統仰臥起坐的姿勢，很多人從小學就開始接觸這項運動了。不過現在這項腹肌訓練的效果受到了質疑。
Earlier last month, an editorial from the Navy Times, a US military publication, said that the sit-up is “viewed as a key cause of lower back injuries”. A study conducted by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information confirmed that 56 percent of the injuries in the US army’s fitness test result from sit-ups. The Canadian Armed Forces banished the sit-up from its fitness test for the same reason.
12月初美國軍事報刊《海軍時報》的一篇評論說，仰臥起坐“是腰背損傷的主要誘因”。美國國家生物技術信息中心的一項研究證實，56%的美國軍隊體能測試受傷案例都是由仰臥起坐引發。加拿大武裝部隊也因此將仰臥起坐從其體能測試中剔除。
“Sit-ups can put hundreds of pounds of compressive force on the spine,” Stuart McGill, a spine biomechanics specialist at the University of Waterloo, Canada, told The Wall Street Journal. “[It] can squeeze the discs in the spine, [and] eventually can cause discs to bulge, pressing on nerves and causing back pain, potentially leading to disc herniation.”
加拿大滑鐵盧大學脊柱生物力學專家斯圖爾特麥吉爾告訴《華爾街日報》：“仰臥起坐會給人的脊柱增加上百磅的壓力。它會擠壓腰椎間盤，最後可能會導致腰椎間盤變形，壓迫腰椎神經，造成背部疼痛，很可能形成腰椎間盤突出症。”
In addition to its health disadvantages, the sit-up is also seen as lacking efficiency. A new report from Harvard Medical School disclosed that traditional sit-ups only target certain muscle groups instead of strengthening the entire set of core muscles.
除了不利於健康，仰臥起坐還被視爲低效運動。哈佛醫學院的一項最新報道表明，傳統仰臥起坐只能鍛鍊到特定的肌肉羣，並不能起到強化全身核心肌肉的作用。
As a result, many fitness gurus are abandoning sit-ups. “I really believe that the traditional, antiquated crunch has seen better days, and it’s time to make a change,” said Tony Horton, the creator of the popular P90X workout series. Horton revealed that he no longer does sit-ups.
因此許多健身達人不再做仰臥起坐了。P90X系列健身法的創始人託尼眠羃說：“我相信傳統、過時的卷腹運動曾風靡一時，但現在是時候改改了。”荷頓透露，他也不再做仰臥起坐了。
For fitness lovers who used to do traditional sit-ups, Dr McGill recommends a modified curl-up that puts less stress on spines than traditional sit-ups. It requires adopters place hands underneath the back and then only lift head and shoulders.
麥吉爾博士建議那些過去常做仰臥起坐的健身愛好者可以改練改良版的卷腹，它給脊柱的壓力會小很多。動作的要領是，將手置於背部下方，只需擡起頭和肩即可。
Sit-ups can also be practiced in different ways, and the variations range from V-Ups, Swiss ball sit-ups and reverse sit-ups. The injury risk not only depends on the variations that people use, but also on an individual’s physical well-being.
仰臥起坐也有多種訓練方法，從V字向上、瑞士球腹肌訓練到反向仰臥起坐。是否會受傷不僅取決於仰臥起坐的姿勢，還和個人的身體健康狀況相關。
John Childs is the CEO of Evidence in Motion, a US company that trains physical therapists, and he remains skeptical about the latest study against sit-ups. He acknowledges that sit-ups can increase the stress placed on backs, but he doesn’t see a direct link between sit-ups and back pain.
美國理療師培訓公司運動跡象的CEO約翰蔡爾斯對有關仰臥起坐的最新研究持懷疑態度。他承認仰臥起坐會給背部增加壓力，但不認爲仰臥起坐和背部痠痛有直接關係。
“The most important thing is for people to perform exercises they enjoy so they’ll continue doing them,” Childs told The Wall Street Journal. “Staying active and doing regular exercise the old-fashioned way is far more advantageous than doing nothing.”
“最重要的是選擇自己喜歡的運動，這樣才能堅持鍛鍊，”蔡爾斯告訴《華爾街日報》。“保持活力，定期鍛鍊，就算過時的運動方式也比一動不動來得好。”
