Crunch is also called as curl-up, it is one of the most effective and common exercise for the muscles in abdomen. It is a better and safer option than sit-ups. The basic form of doing crunches is, to lie down on the floor, facing up and bend your knees. To begin the crunches curl your shoulders towards your lower stomach, with hands beneath the neck or on the chest. The hands prove as a great support to the neck.
Crunches can also be done with the help of an exercise ball. To increase the resistance one can also use weights. While performing crunches the lower back should never leave the ground. This is known as eliminating and involving the hip flexors, to make the crunch an effective exercise for the abdominals. To increase the difficulty level in crunches, one can lie down on a bench holding some weight on their chest or behind their head.
There are six types of crunches.
- Reverse Crunch: It s done with the help of the legs and not the chest.
- Dragon Flag: Bruce Lee and Sylvester Stallone created and popularized it respectively. This crunch is performed by lying down on a bench, with arms beneath bench to hold it, and raising your body from the chest.
- Twisting Crunch: This crunch is done by lifting only one shoulder at one time.
- Thai Crunch: It is done by hitting one’s stomach after a full contraction occurs.
- Cable Crunch: It is done by kneeling in a straight position, and curling the body to pull you down on a cable machine.
- Bicycle Crunch: This crunch is performed by getting your alternate elbows and knees, which is a pedaling motion.
Performing crunches is not difficult here are a few easy steps on how to do crunches.
Steps:
- Take a carpet or a mat and lie down with back towards the floor. If you want you, can also lie down on a bench or use an exercise ball.
- Place you feet flat on the surface and bend your knees. If you want to add some extra stress, then keep your legs suspended in the air.
- Place your hands behind your neck or over your chest. Many people pull their head with their hands, which adds a lot of stress to the spinal cord. The function of your hands is to support your neck.
- Now just curl your back and pull your shoulders upwards, using abdominal muscles only. Never lift your back off the ground entirely this can lead to back stress. Lifting your entire back will not be helpful.
- You might want to lift your head to do a chin touch to your chest, but it is not helpful. It is not considered as a good habit and you might end up hurting yourself. One way to avoid this is, always look at the ceiling.
- If you have placed your hands beneath your neck, then do not let your elbows meet when you come up. Always keep them in the level of your ears. If you happen to join elbows together, it will cause the head to tilt, which is not a good way to do crunches.
- Exhale when you go up and contract your abs. Once your shoulders are up from the ground, hold your position and stay like that for at least one second or more. Inhale when you go down and go slowly. Before starting another set of crunch, relax your muscles.
- If you want to do reverse crunches lie down on with back on the floor. Now lift your legs upwards, and with the help of your abs lift your hips. Make sure that you do not use yourself with your hands.
- If doing a twist crunch, then follow the first few steps of a regular crunch. The only difference in this crunch is, lift only one shoulder at a time in the opposite direction. For e.g. left shoulder towards the right leg and right shoulder towards the left leg.
- For a side crunch, take both the legs and bend them to one side. Lift the shoulders and do the regular crunches. After performing one set, turn over to another side and do the same thing.
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