Skip to content
ascend.
Exercise guide

Janda Sit-Up

How to do the Janda Sit-Up with correct form, the muscles it works, and where it fits a training plan you actually stick to.

IsolationBody OnlyBeginnerPull
Primary muscles

Abs

Secondary

Equipment

Body Only

Step by step

How to do the Janda Sit-Up

  1. 1

    Position your body on the floor in the basic sit-up position; knees to a ninety degree angle with feet flat on the floor and arms either crossed over your chest or to the sides. This will be your starting position.

  2. 2

    As you strongly tighten your glutes and hamstrings, fill your lungs with air and in a slow (three to six second count) ascent, slowly exhale. Tip: It is important to tighten the glutes and hamstrings as this will cause the hip flexors to be inactivated in a process called reciprocal inhibition, which basically means that opposite muscles to the contracted ones will relax.

  3. 3

    As you inhale, slowly go back in a controlled manner to the starting position.

  4. 4

    Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

In Ascend

Log it, see it on your body.

Every Janda Sit-Up set you log feeds Ascend's anatomy heatmap — so your abs volume is visible at a glance — and counts toward your bodyweight-strength tier.

Related

More abs exercises

Ascend Club

The app is free. Club adds the coach, leagues and analytics.

Core tracking stays free forever — the climb, streaks, logging and your league tiers. Club is for when you want the full coach, worldwide competition and the depth, at about the price of one coffee a month.

See Club plans

14-day free trial · no card to start

 FreeClub
Tracking, the climb and streaks
Per-set logging, PR detection, wearables
Muscle-league tiers
The AI coachnudgesFull conversation
Worldwide leagues and challenges
PR projections and deep analytics
Unlimited crews
Themes, export and higher AI limits