Technique Summary

Lay flat on an exercise mat with your hands extended behind your head.  Bring both your feet and your torso up to form a V-shape with your body.  Reach for your toes with your fingers as you bring your torso up.  Exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down.

Technique Details

V-Up is an advanced exercise that does an incredible job at working your midsection.  The exercise also places a lot of pressure on lower back.  Most commonly lower back pain is due to improper form.  As with other ab exercises you have to place special emphasis on rounding your back – first lifting your shoulders off the ground and continuing to round it until full abdominal contraction.

Maintain pressure on your abs through the full range of motion.  This means that neither your legs nor your hands should ever touch the floor.  During contraction your arms should be parallel to your legs and your torso rounded to form a V.  During relaxation your legs should be a foot off of the floor with your hands half way off of the floor.

There are really two types of V-Ups, the sit-up and the crunch.  The V Sit-up requires you to lift your entire torso off the ground on full contraction.  With the V-Up Crunch you should only be bringing your shoulders up.  The V-Up Crunch is kinder to your lower back.

You could further intensify the V-Ups by using ankle weights or a medicine ball.  To make the exercise more fun you could hold the medicine ball with your calves and pass it to your hands on one rep, then back from your hands to your legs on another.  You could also make the exercise easier by keeping your hands on the ground at your sides throughout the set.  By keeping your hands on the floor you could lean on your elbows for support when you bring your body up.