The Perfect Crunch
All across the country there are people doing thousands of crunches every day, all in a desperate attempt to get a flat stomach or a six-pack, and most of them are just making their stomachs bigger. Most people, including certified fitness professionals, don’t know how to do a proper crunch and even more people are misinformed about the benefits and drawbacks of the crunch.
The crunch itself is based on a simple concept. When you flex your spine, you engage your abdomen. What most people forget when they do a crunch is that your abdominals are made up of several layers of interwoven and interdependent muscles. When you flex your spine, as is the case when you lift your shoulders to do a crunch, you primarily engage the exterior layer of the abdominal muscles, the rectus abdominis. Engaging and toning the rectus abdominis, or what I like to call your six-pack muscles, is great, but you must also engage your deeper core muscles, such as your transversus abdominis in order to keep your stomach from ballooning. Have you ever sucked your stomach in? The primary muscle you used to do it was your transversus abdominis.
When you watch the average person do a crunch, you will actually see their stomachs puff outwards as they reach the top of their crunch. This is because as you flex the spine forward and contract the rectus abdominis vertically, it bunches together. Without contracting the transversus abdominis at the same time, to pull the rectus in, what you are building is a bigger belly, with more separation. By contracting the transversus abdominis throughout the lifting process and squeezing at the top, you will keep your stomach flat and make your crunch much more effective. Try this simple technique:
Lay on your back on a flat surface, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place your fingertips behind your ears.
Breathe in, and as you exhale lift your shoulders several inches off of the floor / mat, paying careful attention to breathe all the way out as you’re reaching the top. At the top, squeeze your abdominal muscles by pulling your belly button towards your spine.
Maintain the contraction as you lower yourself back to the starting point.
*Tip – When you sit up, think about sliding your ribs towards your pelvis and lifting your head and neck straight up towards the ceiling, to help alleviate neck strain. I find looking straight up and focusing on a spot right above my eye level as I lay on my back very helpful.
With some simple breathing techniques and conscious attention, you can make the most out of every crunch and be well on your way to that perfect stomach.
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