Overhead Sit-up with Legs on Bench

Perform an overhead sit-up with your legs elevated on a bench to engage your core effectively.

  1. Lie on your back on the floor with your legs resting on a bench.
  2. Hold a weight overhead with both hands, arms fully extended.
  3. Engage your core and lift your upper body towards your legs, keeping the weight overhead.
  4. Lower your body back to the starting position with control.

How to perform the Overhead Sit-up with Legs on Bench

  1. Set up. Set up in a stable, balanced starting position appropriate for the Overhead Sit-up with Legs on Bench using your body weight.
  2. Brace and execute. Brace your core, control the descent, and move through a full pain-free range of motion while emphasizing your abdominals.
  3. Reset. Reverse the movement under control and reset between repetitions, keeping your form crisp on every rep.

Coaching cues

  • Move with intent — every rep should feel deliberate, not rushed.
  • Drive force through your abdominals rather than momentum.
  • Keep your breathing steady: exhale on the hard part, inhale on the reset.

Common mistakes

  • Using too much weight and losing positional control.
  • Cutting the range of motion short and missing the target muscle.
  • Letting your spine round or hyperextend instead of staying neutral.

Detailed cues, common mistakes, and demonstration video are available in the Fitly app.

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