By RealJock Staff

This exercise provided courtesy of Billy Polson, founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body training gym, voted best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006.

Benefits
For a power abdominal workout, try a V Sit-up. With a wall to provide leg support, you can reach higher and push your abs harder than you can in a standard floor sit-up. Remember not to thump and flail—you want to go slow and controlled.

Muscles Worked
Abdominals

Starting Position
Lie on your back on the floor with your feet resting on a wall such that your legs are at a 45-degree angle to the floor. Flex your feet and rest only your heels on the wall. Your legs should be straight and your arms should be extended overhead (see Photo 1).

Exercise

1. From the starting position, begin by bringing your arms up and forward as you tuck your chin down toward your chest. Engaging your abs and exhaling as you lift, bring your upper body off the floor as your arms come forward. Keeping your heels on the wall, try to touch your toes at the top of your lift (see Photos 2 and 3).
2. Slowly uncurl and lower your upper body back down to the floor, bringing your arms back overhead as you lower down. Keep your chin toward your chest until your shoulders are touching the floor. Repeat for a full set of 20 V Sit-ups (see Photo 4).

About Billy Polson: Billy Polson is the founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body training gym, which was voted the best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006. A competitive swimmer and triathlete in his own right, Polson has over 15 years of experience working as a coach and trainer, and was recently named by Men's Journal Magazine (December 2005) as one of the Top 100 Trainers in America.