The ACSM Curl-up and the YMCA Half Sit-up: Two Different Tests, Moderate Reliability, No Validated Meaning - and Why 129 Studies Rank Timed Trunk Holds Above Both
Two field tests of abdominal endurance sit in almost every fitness-testing manual, and they are often confused. The ACSM partial curl-up is a paced test: the client lies with knees bent, arms straight at the sides, and curls the shoulders up until the fingertips slide a set distance along the mat, in time with a metronome, until they can no longer keep the cadence or reach a ceiling count. The YMCA half sit-up is a timed test: the same start position, but the client performs as many correct repetitions as possible in one minute at their own pace. One measures how long you can hold a rhythm; the other measures how fast you can go. The evidence on what either number is worth is thinner than their popularity suggests.
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