This exercise is the basic crunch. Some key things to keep in mind when performing a basic crunch include:

  • Keep your feet about hip width apart
  • When conducting the exercise, push out evenly through the feet.  Don’t put too much weight on your heels or toes.
  • Arms should be nice and open.  Your hands should support your head.  Your head should not feel strained.  Often people pull up through the neck, causing discomfort.  Your head should be heavy in your hands. Think of your head as a weight for your abdominal muscles to lift.
  • During the concentric phase, (as you come up from the floor), make sure that you are contracting your abs.  Your focus should be on the contraction and not on how far up you come off the floor.
  • Concentrate on your breathing: Exhale on the concentric phase (as you come up), and inhale on the eccentric phase (on the way back down).

 

Start/End Position

Mid Position

Abdominals

 

Primary Muscle Group Secondary Muscle Group Joint type
Abdominals   Isolation

 

 

Difficulty Equipment Needed
Basic Low (Body Weight)
 
 
   
 
Description
START POSITION: Lying flat on floor with hands supporting head, feet on floor, and knees bent 90 degrees. MOVEMENT: Keeping neck neutral, slowly curl torso up off floor looking at ceiling. Squeeze abdominal muscles. Hold and then return to start position.

Filed under: Exercises

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