Resting
with Crunches?
by
www.stewsmith.com
This week
an email prompted me to write about one of my favorite and most frequently done
exercises in my workouts – the CRUNCH!
The question asked was concerning when in your workouts do I like to do
abs – in the beginning, after cardio, or in the middle? I have found that I do two types of abs
that work very well for me as well as many of the people I train - - I REST WITH
CRUNCHES and WARMUP WITH CRUNCHES!
Many will
say that crunches are in no way a resting exercise, but I disagree. If you think of the position you are in
during a crunch – it really is just a little tougher than sleeping! Also, if you do something tough like sprint a
1/2 mile and as your "rest" you catch your breath with a few crucnches...It can
be used as a recovery exercise. A simple lift your head and shoulder
blades off the floor and lie back on the floor and you have completed a
crunch.
I do the
following exercises in between sets of pull-ups or bench press as my rest
exercise AND I also get the body warmed up in my early morning workouts with a
cycle of the following crunches:
Regular
Crunches – 25
Reverse
Crunches – 25
Double
Crunches – 25
Left
Crunches – 25
Right
Crunches – 25
Stretch
and complete one minute of lower back exercises as pictured below and you have
warmed up or rest in between big sets of pull-ups, intervals of running, or just
about any other exercise you can think of…Give it a try! It works
great!
Below are
some of the many abdominal exercises taken form every eBook sold on the
Military.com Fitness ebook Store.
Sample abdominal exercises are the
following:
Advanced
Crunch - (Legs up) - Lie on your back
with your feet straight in the air. Keep your legs straight up in the air for
the advanced crunches. Cross your hands over your chest
and bring your elbows to your knees by flexing your stomach. (Do not lift
legs if you have previous lower back injury – place feet on the floor - Regular
Crunch)
Reverse
Crunch - In the same position as the
regular crunch, lift your knees and butt toward your elbows. Leave your head and upper body flat on
the ground. Only move your legs and
butt.
(Do not do if you have previous lower back
injury)
Double Crunch
– Add the
regular and reverse crunch together in one motion…You will
feel this one twice as fast…Hips and shoulders off the floor.
Right Elbow
to Left Knee - Cross your left leg over
your right leg. Flex your stomach
and twist to bring your right elbow to your left knee.
Left Elbow to
Right Knee – Same as above just switch
sides. Cross your right leg over
your leg. Flex your stomach and
twist to bring your left elbow to your right knee.
*note – Anytime you work your abs, you should also exercise your
lower back to build balance in your torso.
Lower Back
Exercise - Lie on your stomach with
your arms extended over your head.
Lift your right arm and your left leg off the ground at the same time and
repeat for specified number of repetitions. Switch arms/legs and
repeat.
Lower Back
Exercise - Swimmers - Lie on your stomach and
lift your feet and knees off the floor by flutter kicking repeatedly as if you
were swimming freestyle.
See
FREE Lower back Plan for pics of
exercises and more!!
