Why are push-ups and sit-ups so common?
Growing up in many school activities we were made to do sit-ups and push-ups. In Navy Cadets we did pushups and situps whenever we exercised. I have also seen it included in many general fitness programs, including in a poster that appeared in our offices in the past couple of days.
Why are push-ups and sit-ups so common?
Is there any indication that these either:
Easy for the general population to perform without significant risk of injury?
Have a greater reward for effort compared to other exercise?
Exercise a greater part of the body or areas of the body that need more attention?
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@Aardvark 's answer is excellent, and I'd like to add one more to his list...
Everyone already knows about them
Compare this with the burpee, which is also an easy to learn, safe, effective, easily modified, easily tracked, equipment-less workout, but much less widespread.
Push-ups emphasize the chest, shoulders, and triceps but every muscle in the body has to do its part for a proper push-up to take place. Your lats, traps, and abs must stabilize your pushing muscles, while your lower back, legs, and glutes need to stay engaged to keep your hips from sagging or piking up too high.
By performing sit-ups or "crunches", you are helping to strengthen and firm up the rectus abdominus muscles, more commonly known as the "six-pack". But crunches will do nothing to reduce the amount of fat you have on your tummy.
Speaking specifically to push-ups:
They don't require any equipment
They are fairly effective
They exercise a wide range of muscles (chest, triceps, shoulders, abs)
They can be easily modified depending on fitness level and target muscle(s)
They are easy to learn
They are pretty safe
It's easy to track progress (I could do 25 push-ups last week, this week I can do 28)
Sit-ups have some of the same advantages, although they can cause back problems and their effectiveness as an abdominal exercise is limited because the range of motion brings into play the psoas muscles, etc.
My guess as to why they haven't been fully replaced by crunches is that it's easier to learn the form and count if it's "all the way up, all the way down" rather than trying to learn exactly where to stop. That, and it's just habit/tradition.
Because back and biceps require a pulling motion, it's hard to come up with exercises that don't require some kind of equipment. Since the pull-up only requires a bar, it's fairly popular as well.
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