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Common mistakes people make when crunching can ruin their effectiveness. If you are not feeling the burn or seeing results in your fitness, it is possible to improve your form. Understanding the basics of biomechanics is important to get the most from crunches. To be successful, you will need to activate and contract your abdominal muscles.

How do crunches work?

Bicycle crunches and oblique crunches should stimulate your abdominal muscles, specifically the rectus abdominis and obliques. Crunches are a great exercise to strengthen your core and make it more stable for exercises like deadlifts.

What are the benefits of crunches?

 

Crunches can be done by beginners or experienced athletes anywhere. They are a staple in any routine, and they are perfect for at home fitness workouts.

Crunches are an excellent abdominal exercise that is practical in addition to their usefulness. Crunches are primarily designed to build abdominal muscle. Crunches can be used as an isolation exercise. They target the abdominal muscles and isolate them, thereby helping to improve your mind-muscle connection.

This can be applied to other sports and exercises. Core activation can be improved by learning how to connect to your abs and contract them. Your core will be active during a barbell-squat to help keep the barbell in the concentric and eccentric phases. Your ability to do effective exercises will be affected if your core is weak. You are also more likely to suffer from low back pain , poor posture, injuries, and low back pain .

As with all exercises, your form will not be right and you won’t get the results that you want. Unintentional muscles could be being targeted, causing injury or imbalances. This is how to properly perform crunches.

How to properly do crunches

There are many crunch variations. Let’s begin with the classic crunch.

1. Place your feet on the ground, knees bent, and feet hip-width apart.
2. Your hands should be crossed over your chest, or your elbows extended out in front of your head.
3. Keep your shoulders relaxed and your gaze neutral. Tuck your chin towards your chest.
4. Take a deep inhale and draw your abdomen towards your spine.
5. Inhale, lift your neck, shoulders and head off the ground, and curl inward.
6. Take a deep breath and slowly return to the starting position.

How to Make Popular Crunch Variations

1. Reverse Crunch

This popular variant works your rectus abdominis, external obliques and lower abdomen.

1. Place your feet on the ground, knees bent, and your feet hip-width apart.
2. Place your hands at your sides on the ground.
3. Exhale and contract your abs towards your spine.
4. Inhale, lift your feet off of the ground and extend your legs upwards toward your chest. To crunch your abs, tilt your hips inward.
5. Slowly lower your feet towards the floor.

1. Bicycle Crunch

Bicycle crunch stimulates your transversus abdominis (deepest abdominal muscle), with a bicycle crunch. This is a key muscle to prevent back pain.

1. Place your feet on the ground, knees bent, and your feet hip-width apart.
2. Place your hands on your head gently, elbows up and fingers touching your ears.
3. One leg should be lifted off the ground. The other should be straightened outward.
4. Lift your chest up and rotate your torso – opposite elbow to opposing knee
5. With your knees bent, lower your back until you are in a neutral position.
6. Switch sides opposing elbow and opposite knee.

2. Medicine Ball Crunch

 

The medicine ball version can intensify a traditional crunch and increase your heart rate.

1. Place your feet on the ground and sit down. With a slight bend at the knee, straighten your legs.
2. Place your medicine ball behind your hips, and then lean back at a 45-degree angle.
3. You can move the ball left-right by twisting your body and contracting your abs.

Common Mistakes When Crunching

 

1. Don’t Do It Too Quickly

You will get better ab activation if you do crunches slower and with more control. This is because you are increasing your time under tension. If you do your crunch in a controlled way, it should only last for a few seconds. Two seconds for the concentric phase (when your shoulders are raised) and two seconds for the eccentric phase (when your shoulders are lower).

2. Stabilize the Neck

Neck pain is a common complaint after crunches. This is an indication that you are not following proper form. Keep your eyes forward and neutral, and your chin towards your chest to avoid neck pain. This position decreases the activation rate of the hyoid muscle. These are the stabilizing muscles that run between your collarbone and your chin. The abdominals should be responsible for stabilization.

3. Don’t go too high

Crunches are not a sit-up! When you are coming up, don’t lift your entire upper body. This is a very small movement. It is actually more difficult to build momentum when you have a smaller movement. Your shoulder blades should be raised just a few inches above the ground.

4. Curl and Lift

To get up, you need to curl your shoulders and lift your head off the ground. You won’t get the elevation if you curl your shoulders and don’t target your abdomen. This could be the problem. Imagine bringing your ribs towards your pelvis as you exhale, curling and lifting upward.

5. Important Concerns About Arm Position

Crunches are not good for your arms. Crunches can be used to isolate your abdominal muscles. You can position your arms in any way you like, whether it’s outwardly, inwardly or across your body. You should choose a comfortable position so that you can focus on your mind-muscle connection and your abs.

September 16, 2022