11-20 sit-ups

If you did 11-20 sit-ups in the test
Day 1 60 seconds (or more) between breaks		Day 4 60 seconds (or more) between breaks
set 1	3	set 1	4
set 2	5	set 2	5
set 3	5	set 3	5
set 4	3	set 4	4
set 5	3	set 5	4
set 6	max (minimum 6)	set 6	max (minimum 8)
Day 2 60 seconds (or more) between breaks		Day 5 60 seconds (or more) between breaks
set 1	4	set 1	4
set 2	5	set 2	6
set 3	5	set 3	6
set 4	3	set 4	4
set 5	3	set 5	4
set 6	max (minimum 7)	set 6	max (minimum 8)
Day 3 60 seconds (or more) between breaks		Day 6 60 seconds (or more) between breaks
set 1	4	set 1	5
set 2	5	set 2	6
set 3	5	set 3	6
set 4	4	set 4	4
set 5	4	set 5	4
set 6	max (minimum 7)	set 6	max (minimum 8)

Sit-Ups on the Silver Screen

Film has a shorthand for grit, and the sit-up is one of its favorite props. It costs nothing to stage, it reads instantly, and it lets a director show a character deciding to change without a single line of dialogue. Whenever a movie wants you to believe someone is getting harder, hungrier, or more dangerous, there's a decent chance you'll catch them grinding out reps.

The training montage is the natural home for this. The "Rocky" films built much of their identity on Balboa's willingness to suffer, and "Rocky IV" (1985) leans into it hard, cutting between Rocky's rough barn workouts and Ivan Drago's gleaming machines. The message is blunt and effective: raw will against cold technology. "Million Dollar Baby" (2004) uses the same visual grammar more quietly, letting Maggie's growing strength stand in for her transformation from hopeful amateur to real fighter.

Military stories put the exercise to similar work. "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982) runs Zack Mayo through a punishing candidate program where the physical grind becomes the crucible for his character. "G.I. Jane" (1997) sharpens the point: Demi Moore's Lieutenant O'Neil pushes through brutal SEAL-style training, and every rep doubles as an argument that she belongs there.

Comedy loves the sit-up for the opposite reason. It is inherently a little undignified, all red faces and straining necks, which makes it perfect for puncturing vanity. "DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story" (2004) hands Ben Stiller's preening White Goodman a set of absurd, over-the-top routines that expose how hollow he is. "The Princess Diaries" (2001) plays it gentler, using Mia's clumsy gym-class struggle to underline how out of place she feels in her sudden new life.

Then there's the sit-up as a window into a character's head. "American Psycho" (2000) opens on Patrick Bateman's clinical morning regimen, the reps folded into a narration about products and appearances until fitness becomes just another symptom of his emptiness. "Fight Club" (1999) uses hard physical conditioning as part of its characters' bid to feel something real again.

Superhero and action stories keep the tradition alive with a flourish, from Oliver Queen's salmon-ladder work in "Arrow" to Lara Croft's harness-suspended stunts in "Tomb Raider" (2001). None of it is really about abdominal muscles. On screen, the sit-up is a promise that the character is willing to do the boring, painful work, and audiences have learned to read it that way.