Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1977 docudrama Pumping Iron is nearly 50 years old, but the lessons from this bodybuilding classic continue to inspire gym-goers today. So when the Arnold Sports Festival Instagram account recently uncovered footage of “The Austrian Oak” demonstrating Roman chair sit-ups during filming, we recorded it, took note, and tried out a few of these awesome exercises. Here’s how you can do it, too.
“In my bodybuilding heyday, I was known for a few body parts – chest, biceps, back, calves – but it was my abs that I paid the most attention to,” the Olympia icon previously explained to FLEX in a statement. “I knew then, and I know now, that no matter how thick your arms are, how broad your shoulders are, and how skinny your thighs are, if your abdomen is poorly developed, you won’t look like Hercules, you’ll just look too big.
What is a Roman Chair Sit-Up?
The Roman Chair Sit-Up targets the iliopsoas muscles (psoas major and iliacus), which connect your hips and lower torso. The iliopsoas muscles are located around your lower back, and in this exercise, they work to force the rest of your body to perform the Roman Chair Sit-Up, all of which is stabilized by your rectus abdominis (abdominal muscles) and obliques (side abdominal muscles).
How to do Roman chair abdominal exercises
- Sit on a bench and place your feet under a weighted barbell to stabilize yourself.
- Lean your torso back until your hips are almost fully extended.
- Step forward until your torso is straight
Variations: To test the difficulty of this move, try placing your hands in different positions, such as around your waist or above your head. Do 2 sets of 20 reps. The Roman Chair Sit-Up was one of Arnold’s four main abdominal exercises. To learn more from Arnold himself, check out this story from our archives here.
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