- 10/22/08: Newsletter
- Strengthening Your Legs
- Working Out on Empty Stomachs
- Making Cardio Less Painful
- Avoid Crashing
- Coping With Sweets
- Increasing Metabolism
- Organize Your Training
- Eating Habits
- Visceral Belly Fat
- The Best Running Shoe
- Strength or Aerobic Capacity?
- Toning Legs with Cardio
- My Doctor's Scale is Off
- More Reps and their Effects
- 04/24/08: Newsletter
- 1-08-08: Newsletter
- 11-08-07: Newsletter
- 10-03-07: Newsletter
- 8-29-07: Newsletter
- 6-20-07: Weight Loss
- 6-13-07: Back Injury
- 5-08-07: Friendly Pressure
- 4-27-07: Running Routines
- 4-20-07: Cycling Cardio
- 4-10-07: Back Injury
- 4-03-07: Lunges Quads Butt
- 3-27-07: Running Off Fat
- 3-27-07: Runners Diet
- 3-23-07: Eating Late
- 3-13-07: Abs for the Obese
- 3-07-07: Supplements
- 2-21-07: Carbs Weight Gain
- 2-14-07: Accurate Bodyweight
- 2-07-07: Weight Fluctuations
- 1-30-07: Best Oatmeal
- 1-21-07: Winter Cardio
- 1-14-07: Training Children
- 1-10-07: Sick Bay
- 1-03-07: Shin Splints
- 2006: Archives
- 2005: Archives
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10-03-07//Crunches
What's the best way to do crunches?
Chris:
I have always had a problem isolating my abs. I can literally do hundreds of crunches without ever feeling as if my stomach had a good workout. Don’t get me wrong, I get tired but I just don’t feel the burn that I am supposed to. I must be doing something wrong. What is your best advice for performing this exercise correctly?
Phil
Phil:
Whenever someone tells me that they can do hundreds of crunches without getting a burn my reply is usually, “try doing 30 my way and we’ll see how many you can really do.” Remember when it comes to getting a killer ab workout it’s all about quality not quantity. Make each rep count and don’t worry about numbers. Here are a few tips to help correct your form.
Keep the tension. A common mistake people make when doing crunches is violently moving their body up and down using momentum to complete each rep. It’s no wonder they can do a couple hundred crunches. Why waist your time if your going to do them incorrectly.
The proper way to perform a crunch is to do each rep very slowly pausing at the top and bottom of the movement. I like to tell my clients to pretend that there is broken glass underneath their back so they never actually touch the floor. This technique keeps your abs under constant tension. Trust me this will cause a burn in a hurry. And you won’t need to do a hundred reps to feel it.
Don’t pull on your neck. A lot of people like to lock both hands behind their head when crunching allowing them to lift half of their body weight with their arms instead of their abs. A much better technique is to lightly touch your ears with your finger tips and lock your elbows in place pointing toward your knees. Crunch up slowly using abs only and the exercise will automatically become twice as intense.
Don’t hold your breath. Try breathing out at the top of the movement. This technique will help you get a much better range of motion and cause a more intense burn. If you hold your breath at the top of the crunch you will limit your range of motion and you will actually be doing a half crunch instead of a full one.
Do crunches as part of an ab cycle. When working abs it makes more sense to do several exercises in a row to cause a more intense burn. For example try coupling crunches, leg raises and bicycle crunches together. Do 1 set of each exercise back to back without any rest. When you finished count to fifty seconds and start again. Perform 2-3 sets of 25-30 reps and I’ll bet you’ll find that crunches can be a lot more difficult.