Archive for March 4th, 2010
Yesterday, I mentioned we would talk about good form when it comes to the basic abdominal crunch for a flat stomach. As promised, here are a couple of things to remember.
The one and most important thing: Keep the low back into the mat!!! We all have a tendency to arch the back. As soon as that arch takes place you release the abdominals. Think of it this way, when you are laying on your back and you crunch up, concentrate on bringing the ribs to meet the hips. The low back automatically sinks into the mat. Plus you get a little more bang, by tilting the hips up, you are working the full range of the abs.
A second thing to remember: Don’t pull on your head! With our hands behind our head there is a tendency to pull the head up to ease the crunch. This is incredibly bad for the cervical spine. Instead, gently/lightly place your finger tips by your ears and lift.
Another thing to concentrate on is: Keep a fist distance between the chin and chest! Place one of your fists under your chin to get a feel for where that distance is. Or get an
orange, place it under your chin and do a crunch that way.
Finally, I see some folks who want to make the abdominal crunch harder, by lengthening the levers. They have both arms extended over head, which is fine except, they use their arms as momentum to help lift the upper body off the floor. This is called Angular Momentum. You are transferring the real work your abs should be doing, to the swinging the arms. Instead, control the upper body from your abs as you lift with arms extended.
Always remember, GOOD FORM IS EVERYTHING for all exercises, even for a flat stomach!