Crunches vs Sit-ups

Yesterday morning I took an early class at the Sportsplex in Kaysville, called Sports Conditioning. It’s “a highly energetic workout consisting of drills, relays and polymerics to enhance your athletic abilities.” It’s obviously not the best time of year to step into the gym, or focus on new methods of cross training for most cyclist, but I figured I’m in pretty decent shape all-round and was actually really looking forward to some new athletic opportunities.The Sportsplex is a pretty sweet gym. Tons of options that would pretty much suite anyone's fitness needs. With personal trainers, nutrition specialists and all the right equipment and classes.I’ve never really participated in a group fitness class before and was a bit nervous about it. I figured I’d be the fool in the back that couldn’t keep up or was doing the wrong moves. Thankfully there was no chirography involved.The instructor threw on the typical gym re-mix of base pumping, sweat’n hits and we began the routine. Sean, the only other guy in there and I decided it would be best if we were partners for this one. We were required to team up and I’m glad he was there since he had done it before and was a great reference to me when it came to the names of all the different workouts.We ran our sprints, did our shuffles, went up and down the stair case just to name a few. The hour long workout rotated through 8 stations. 4 were dedicated to the core muscles and 4 were more of a cardio workout. During one of the core stations we were required to do sit-ups. I didn't think twice about it until I started to attempt mine. It's been quite some time since I've done a full sit-up. Maybe high school gym class? And back then I had a buddy standing on my feet counting how many I could do in one minute.I began my 30 sit-ups when both my feet came swiftly off the ground and I struggled to keep balance. I was a bit puzzled by my lack of ability to do a sit-up. Even without someone stabilizing my feet. I struggled trying to keep my balance through all 30 while also trying not to look like a goof-ball. I've done my share of crunches and don't have much problem whipping a grundle of those out. It's not my preferred thing in general, but I've done a few in addition to various other an efforts to keep the core muscles strong.One thing I know many cyclists struggle with or just don't have, is total body strength. Giant lungs on top of strong legs makes for a pretty efficient cyclist, but I think there's a lot to be said about having some extra muscle and strength around the rest of the body. Which bring me to this... What type of full body workouts are best for cyclists? There are a lot of muscle groups to focus on that can really benefit cycling and a good number that pretty much do nothing but help you look smokin hot on the beach. Crunches/sit-ups for one. Crunches are good if you're eventually think about reverting to the old days and need to wash your cloths in a bucket of soapy water. Sit-ups are also great for the washboard abs but put a lot of strain on your back and can eventually lead to some issues. In place of those, try variations of leg lifts and scissor kicks. Not only will you get a great ab and core workout, but you'll also be utilizing more muscles in your back, hips, glutes and thighs. Those are the muscle groups you can tap into for cycling.Other than my lack of ability to rip out a few sit-ups, I think I did pretty well in the Sports Conditioning class. Today I'm actually pretty sore from tapping into and using some different muscle groups that I don't normally use but I'm excited to keep pushing them in hopes of better all round fitness. And I'm looking forward to be spending a bit more time at the Sportsplex, and taking more conditioning classes. I'd really like to get my yoga on. Heaven knows I could use a little help stretching.