# V-Up: how to do it

- Main muscles: abs
- Also works: hip flexors
- Equipment: bodyweight
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/v_up/edbe560e53/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Lie on your back with legs straight and arms overhead.
2. Press your lower back into the floor and lift your arms and legs slightly off it.
3. Lift your legs and upper body together, reaching your hands towards your toes.
4. Lower slowly back to the start without letting your feet or shoulders touch down.

## Cues

- Legs straight, squeezed together.
- Reach for your toes, not your knees.
- Lower slowly, back stays flat.

## Common mistakes

- Back arching on the way down: lower more slowly and keep your ribs pulled down.
- Bending the knees: lift only as high as you can with straight legs.
- Using momentum: pause at the top and move with control.

## The version in our demo

Classic straight-leg V-up from a hovering hollow start: arms and legs lift together and meet in a V balanced on the buttocks, then lower without the feet or shoulders touching down (Healthline's version). ACE's "V-ups" page builds up a seated V-sit instead; its bracing cues still apply.

## Starting position

Lying on the back, legs straight and squeezed together, arms straight overhead beside the ears. Ribs pulled down so the lower back presses into the floor; arms and legs lifted 15–30 cm off the floor (source: 6–12 in), head and shoulder blades just off the floor.

## The movement

In one smooth movement, lift the straight legs and the trunk at the same time while the arms sweep forward and up to reach towards the toes. At the top the body balances on the buttocks in a V. Lower both ends together under control back to the hovering start. Legs stay straight and together; the arms stay straight; the head stays in line with the trunk rather than reaching forward.

## Breathing

Breathe out on the way up, in on the way down.

## Tempo

1 s up, 0.5 s balance at the top, 1.5 s down to the hover (3 s).

## Form in numbers

- Paths: hands sweep a forward arc over the face; feet rise in an arc around the hips.

## Sources

1. [Healthline, "Double Crunches: Benefits and How to Do Them" (V-up section; Tyler Read, CPT, reviewed by Danielle Hildreth, RN, CPT)](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/double-crunch)
2. [BarBend, "How to Perform a Picture-Perfect Sit-Up for Stronger Abs" (V-up section)](https://barbend.com/sit-up/)
3. [ACE, "V-ups"](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/242/v-ups/)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/v-up