Abdominal Crunches
Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat. Brace your core; exhale and lift shoulder blades off the floor, keeping lower back down and neck relaxed. Lower with control to strengthen your abs.
Muscles worked
Primary
Equipment
How to do it
- Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Cross the arms over the chest or rest hands lightly behind the head.
- Brace the core and curl the rib cage toward the pelvis until the shoulder blades clear the floor.
- Pause briefly at the top with the abs fully shortened.
- Lower under control until the shoulder blades just touch the floor.
- Reset the brace before the next rep.
Watch for
- Pulling on the neck instead of curling the ribs.
- Lifting the low back off the floor at the bottom.
- Bouncing through the bottom of the rep.
Breathing
Exhale as you curl up, inhale as you lower.
Tip
Shorten the range if you have to pull on the neck. Clean reps load the abs better than longer cheats.
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