Crunches | Illustrated Exercise Guide

Primary muscles: Abs
Secondary muscles: Abs
Equipment: No equipment
Exercise for the opposite muscles: Alternating superman

CRUNCHES INSTRUCTIONS

1. Lie down on the mat, keep your knees bent, your back and feet flat, and your hands supporting your head.
2. Lift your shoulders, squeeze your abdominal muscles and hold for 1 to 2 seconds.
3. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat until set is complete.

PROPER FORM AND BREATHING PATTERN

When doing crunches keep your head in a neutral position, with your eyes on the ceiling and the chin off your chest. Breathe out as you crunch, maintain your core muscles tight and engaged and keep the elbows out.

EXERCISE BENEFITS

Crunches target the abdominal muscles and adding them to your workout routine helps to tone and strengthen your core, improves your posture, trims down your waist and increases your balance and stability.

DEMONSTRATION

SETS AND REPS

Start with 2 or 3 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions. You can increase the challenge by doing modified versions of crunches, like roll ups and sit ups. Alternate exercises frequently so that your muscles don’t get accustomed to the same moves.

CALORIES BURNED

To calculate the number of calories burned doing crunches, enter your weight and the duration of the exercise:

RELATED CORE EXERCISES

Try these other core exercises to tighten, sculpt and strengthen your abs, obliques, lats and lower back:
Straight leg raise
Alternating superman
Flutter kicks
Plank