In the military, they promote crunches and situps over most other ab exercises. Do you think they are correct in doing so?

I'm a firm believer that if it works than why not. That being said, out of all the abdominal excersises available out there, the situp is probably the most misunderstood. 90% of the people I've seen do situps usually complain of either lower back pain and/or neck soreness this is almost always a result of poor technique. The risk/reward ratio with situps makes the exercise hardly worth doing at all. Crunches on the other hand are far easier to teach and reduces the chance of injury significantly.

With over 10 years servicing to armed service even as a woman. This was important for the basic PT testing and passing for every day exercise for the soldiers.
I still do these myself and they make a difference. many people do only half the exercise when it comes to abdominal training. Even if you remember PE in school these were standard.

I am curious to know your opinion on all the other forms of training that the military utilize. Obstacle courses, push ups, long distance runs. I'd be curious to know the incidence of low back pain associated with situps in soldiers, GI, etc.

I stand behind most military training 100%. Obstacles course and calisthenics are a good test of strength and the ability to move your body in different directions. I don't back the situps all the way because they do put strain on the lower back, and there's plenty of other exercises that offer the same benefit, without the pain. The only thing I don't like is that they train everyone the same. U can weigh 300lbs, and will still have to be able to run as if u were half that size. So sickbay is always full of those who are hurt, due to exercise.

I understand that the military has their own standards and their own goals for training people. I cannot imagine myself training people (of any age) with situps and crunches to the exclusion of anything else.

So: no, I do not believe it is the right thing to do. Why would I do something that creates lower back and neck problems? I also would not promote what has become a proverbial textbook demonstration for an example of poor posture: the military posture.

I think Stephen has offered some great insight into the real world of military fitness. Having attended some military training camps myself, I can attest to the variety of exercises offered in a general PT session, having led some of those sessions myself.

The most controversial exercise that the military uses is by far, in my opinion, the sit up. The way that the sit up is taught favors the use of the hip flexors and overextension of the lumbar spine in order to get a great score on your PFT. Push ups, Pull ups, and the run (I think it's 1.5 or 3 miles now??) are all good indicators of both strength and endurance, in my opinion. You have to look at this as a whole. These assessments can be done quickly and efficiently, which is of absolute value in a military setting. I think they do the best they can with what resources and time they are given. But make no mistake.. running, pull ups, push ups, sit ups and obstacle courses are not the only fitness experiences in the military repertoire. Whether or not those options are "exercised" is usually up to the person in charge of the PT schedule. Get someone who genuinely cares about total health of the serviceman instead of personal advancement, you'll be in better shape all around.

I agree with Brad in that I, also, favor crunches over sit ups as they are taught to service members. In my experience, leg lifts, butterfly (scissor/flutter) kicks, and agility exercises are just some of the other exercises that can be used to improve the condition of the abdominals and most of the other muscles in the "core."

I just wrapped up a 2 year contract with the Air Force as an Air Force Fitness Testing Specialist (FTS) and was the lead Fitness Assessment Cell (FAC) member. For the first year of the contract we lead group boot camps for the Fitness Improvement Program (FIP) for those that had failed their test. What I can say from experience is there are many more back injuries than need be as well as too many shoulder injuries. Both of these can be prevented with proper programming. I read a study done by the Army last year where they put a sit up program vs. a core stabilization program and measure with a sit up test. The core stabilization program had better test score in the sit up test against doing actual situps...not surprising to some of us. I have trained many airmen in the two years working there that have thanked me and left comment cards for leadership because my training not only improved their core strength but also helped them to understand things that the physical therapists and doctors they had seen over the years never told them, if they even knew it. Check out my profile for some of those comments that I cut and pasted from emails to me.

Bottom line is the military is causing needless injuries with antiquated training methodology. In their defense they are doing studies to find out why and are making good headway in realizing that their training is lacking. Now for all the red tape paperwork to bring knowledge to practice.