Crunches (Abs) – Exercise Guide
When it comes to abdominal training, too many times to people utilized complicated exercises and too much gym equipment. In reality, all you need to get a good ab workout in is a little bit of space, and some bodyweight. That’s right, you don’t need to go into some huge in-depth training routine with vigorous abdominal exercises and utilizing every cable and pull-up bar you can find in the gym. You can easily do some bodyweight exercises and get in an amazing ab workout that will help make those abs pop when it times to cut for summer.
What is the best abdominal exercises?
Crunches
Crunches are a solid bodyweight exercise that involves just crunching your body and putting tension on the abs. Check out how to do it below.
Instructions
1. Lie on your back with your feet placed flat on the floor. Place your hands on either side or at the back of your head.
2. Push your lower back into the floor as you lift your shoulders off.
3. Contract your abs and exhale as you roll your shoulders and lift your upper back 4-5 inches off the ground.
4. Hold the position at the top of the movement for a couple of seconds and keep contracting your abdominal.
6. Slowly return to the starting position as you inhale and repeat for the recommended reps.
Variations/How To
If standard crunches right on your floor with just bodyweight does not appeal to you, do not worry. There are plenty of different ways to do a crunch, even adding a little bit more resistance or switching things up. Let’s take a look.
Add Resistance: There are many variations of the crunches you can perform to add resistance and make it harder. You could hold a weight plate or a dumbbell against your chest, place your legs on a flat bench or an exercise ball or perform the crunches on a decline bench to add resistance.
Decline Crunch: The decline crunch is a classic exercise that you just need a decline bench for. You lay on the decline bench as if you are about to perform a bench press, but take away the barbell because you are going to do some crunches. Once you are laying on the decline bench, you just perform a basic crunch!
Crunch Machine: The crunch machine is a gym machine dedicated to adding some major resistance to your crunches.
Crunches vs. Sit-Ups
Many times people think that crunches and sit ups are the same thing, but in reality they are very different. The main difference between the two movements, being sit-ups and crunches, is the range of motion involved in each of these exercises. With sit-ups, these require you to lift all the way up, typically touching your elbows to your knees. On the other hand, crunches require a slight lift off the ground. Due to the increased range of motion, sit-ups can activate more muscles than crunches, but they may also present a greater injury risk if they are performed improperly.
Importance of Training Abs
When it comes to hitting your crunches and doing the abs, it is about more than just looking good. Now, a six-pack looks great, but strong core muscles are important in just about every lift, especially those heavy compounds like the squat and the deadlift. When you lift weight, you are bracing your core, especially when under a barbell or picking a fully loaded barbell up, your core braces heavily, so you need to have a strong midsection. While a weightlifting belt is a great tool to really help with keeping your midsection tight, nothing beats a good, strong core.
Will Abdominal Exercise Give Me Visible Abs?
While doing ab exercises like crunches can certainly help with making your abs show, it ultimately will come down to how much body fat you have. If you are over a certain body fat percentage, your abs will not show even if you are training them. That being said, a solid focus on diet and cardio is absolutely necessary.
Wrap Up
Overall, you do not need tons of equipment to build up that six pack. All you need is bodyweight, and a little bit of space to get those crunches in.
Do you enjoy doing crunches?
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