Ab workouts: It's Crunchtime for your abs - Abs Part 5

Having focussed on lower abs, and some core stability related ab exercises, I feel its time to get to the good ol crunches.
The traditional ab crunch is the one exercise that most people do when working out their abs, but its the one that most people do badly.
In this post I've outlined a couple of my favourite crunches and how to do them right

The reverse crunch

This exercise feels like a lower ab exercise but in fact it does target the rectuc abdominis which is a farily long muscle and I do feel its a pretty comprehensive crunch.

Preparation:
Lie on your back on a floormat and place your head on the floor, arms beside you. (You can lift your head and palce your hands behind your neck to support it, but I'd recommend starting with your head on the floor until you have proper control over your crunch movement). Bend your knees until they are at 90 degrees to your torso.

The exercise:
Contract your abs, and lift your knees upward and curl your hips. Maintain control as you release back to the set position

Reps:
Start with 3-4 sets of 10, building up to 4 sets of 15. If you are really good at this you can add ankle weights.

Tips:
Its tempting to cheat on this one, and use the swinging momentum of your legs to get the movement. The idea with this (and any other) exercise is to place maximum stress on the muscle, so don't cheat yourself, but use the abs to get the movement. A good way of thinking about it is to try and push the lumbar area of your back, into the floor, to achieve the hip curl.

The exercise ball crunch

This is more like the "regular" crunch exercise, but the ball helps isolate your abs and ensure you're not overworking your hip flexors and your lower back.

Preparation:
Sit on the ball and roll down till the middle of your back is on the floor. Place your hands behind your back and keep your knees bent at around 90 degrees.

The exercise:
Crunch your abs and curl your ribcage off the ball while pressing the rib cage into your hips. Release back to the set position with control.

Reps:
Build up to doing 4 sets of 15-20(max) reps

Tips:
The ball should be still while you are doing the exercise to avoid bouncing up and down or rolling the ball. As always with the ball, the movement comes from the abs, so a solid core will prevent the ball from moving around.

These two crunches should give your abs a good blast, when incorporated into the rest your routine.
Happy crunching.

For a selection of general workout information try these free workout routines

You can sign up for a free fat burning report by my favourite workout expert

Technorati tags:fitness,weight loss,exercise,diet,workouts,health