An abdominal crunch isn’t just something you do to try and get 6 pack abs. In fact, there is no exercise that will do that by itself. You have to remove the fat from your
stomach
in order to accomplish that.
The abdominals are made up of 6 muscles that are part of your body’s core. They are located from just below your chest to the top of the hips. They help you:
put your hands beside your ears (hardest). Keeping your lower body still, curl your upper torso up and in toward your knees, until your shoulder blades are as high off the ground as possible. Lift your shoulder blades only, do not let your lower back lose contact with the ground.
As you come to the highest point, focus on tightening your abdominal muscles and exhale fully. Slowly lower yourself to the starting position. For a video example
click here.
Things to Remember
One of the most important and often overlooked details in performing an abdominal crunch is pulling on the back of the head when you are coming up.This is something you absolutely want to avoid. It is safest to put your hands anywhere but behind your head when doing this exercise.
Another key to getting the most out of a crunch is to exhale fully at the top. Take in air on the way down and exhale all the way up.
Don’t turn your crunch into a sit up. A sit up (when your whole back leaves the floor) works the hip flexors and bypasses the abdominal muscles. So if you want to work the abdominal muscles, you’ve got to use the correct technique.
Even Better!
How can this exercise be made better? By performing it while balanced on an
exercise ball!
A regular crunch will work the abs, but you are only getting in half the range of motion that you can get when you use the ball. So you are not getting the benefit of the extra work and flexibility from bending over backwards and doing the crunches.Instead of doing all your crunches straight on, you can vary the exercise by rolling over toward either hip and work the abdominal muscles from a slightly different angle.
Whenever you add the ball into an exercise there is the benefit you receive from all the supporting muscles having to work in order for you to keep your balance.
You can view a clip that shows you how to do these correctly while using a ball
here.
To make this easier, position your bottom further down the side of the ball. The more toward the top you are sitting, the more difficult the exercise is.
If you consider all the benefits to this activity you may agree that you should add it as a daily abdominal exercise even if you aren't after a 6-pack.
Return from Abdominal Crunches to Bodyweight Exercises
Best Anti Aging Solution
Anti-Aging health and beauty solutions. Beauty Specialist DanielaCollins provides a guide to holistic anti-aging treatments alongwith advice on nutrition, health, beauty, and skin care.
