The ab crunches or abdominal crunch exercise is great for strengthening your abdominals. This page shows the different variations on how to do this exercise correctly and effectively.
Ab Crunches is a very effective abdominal exercise, one of the great things about the abdominal crunch is that it doesn’t require any equipment to perform. However a piece of exercise equipment called the abdominal roller can be used to perform and aid the exercise.
While the abdominal crunch is a great exercise for working the abdominal muscles, they’re not great for fat loss as they use little movement and therefore don’t burn as many calories and require less energy as some other exercises.
Ab Crunches Variations
- Abdominal crunch
- Twist abdominal crunch
- Bicycle crunch
How to do Ab Crunches
- Lie down on your back, bend your knees and keep your feet flat on the floor, place your hands behind your head and flatten your back.
- Keeping your head in line with your body, don’t push or pull your head forward, now slowly lift up your head and shoulders to perform the crunch, you should almost instantly feel your abdominals being worked, then slowly lower yourself and repeat.
Twisting Ab Crunches
The twisting motion works your obliques, the muscles just at the side of your abdominals.
- Get in the same position as you would for a normal crunch, with your back flat on the ground, knees up and bent at about 90 degrees with your feet flat on the floor.
- Place your right fingers on the right side of your head (the temple area), now slowly lift up your head and shoulders and twist pointing your right elbow to your left knee, then slowly lower and repeat with the same side for a certain amount of repetitions and then switch sides.
Bicycle Ab Crunches
- Get in the same position as you would for a normal crunch, with your back flat on the ground, knees up, elbows out wide and your fingers on your temples.
- Now twist your body and move one elbow towards your opposite knee, extend and straighten your other leg keeping it suspended a few inches off the ground.
- You should feel your abdominals and obliques being worked as you perform this, then repeat with the other side.
There are various other ways of performing ab crunches, including various pin and cable machines, as well as various abdominal rollers, while equipment can be beneficial you don’t really need it to perform the exercise.
If you are determined to get a flat stomach or six pack, you should definitely be adding high calorie burning aerobics or cardiovascular exercises into the mix, and not just performing this or any other direct abdominal exercise.
