Crunches, whether on a mat or not, are done by lying on the floor with your arms crossed in front of your chest. Many people do crunches with their hands behind their head, but this can cause problems in the lower back because the head and neck are pulled. A slightly different position is to place your fingertips behind your ears instead of crossing them in front of your chest. It is important not to pull on your neck or ears as you rise from the floor. Instead, pull your abdomen back towards your spine and inhale through your nose at the same time. Using only your abdominal muscles, lift your shoulders towards your knees. Do not lift your entire back off the floor, as this can strain your back. Lifting your entire torso will not provide any additional benefit to your abdomen. The key part of the crunch is to bend your abdominal muscles first as you lift your shoulders off the floor. Exhale through your mouth as your shoulders leave the floor. As you exhale, make sure your shoulders do not touch the floor, but exhale as if you are expelling the last air from your lungs. As you inhale, lower your shoulders until your shoulder blades touch the ground. To get the most out of your abdominal exercises, it’s important to maintain proper breathing control and muscle flexion.
Abdominal exercises
Start again with your feet on the floor and your knees bent. You can place your fingers behind your ears or cross your arms in front of your chest. Breathe in deeply and slowly lift your entire back off the floor, exhaling as you reverse the movement. This exercise can be made more difficult in several ways. For example, you can do sit-ups on an incline with your head lower than your lower body. Then you can lift weights on your chest while seated. You can make the weights heavier on an incline bench. The next difficult step can be achieved by lifting your feet off the ground while doing sit-ups or by making a bicycle pedaling motion while doing sit-ups with your legs. These exercises may not be easy, but they are very effective for your abdominals.
Leg Lift
The leg raise exercise starts with lying on the floor with your legs straight and your hands at your sides. Raise both legs at the same time without bending your knees, until your legs are at a 90-degree angle or as close to it as possible. Not everyone is flexible enough to reach a 90-degree angle. Lower your legs as close to the floor as possible without touching them, and repeat several times. Adding weights to your legs as you lift increases the difficulty of this exercise. Another challenging exercise to improve abdominal contour and musculature is to raise both legs to a 90-degree position while hanging from a pull-up bar. As with most exercises, make sure you are aware of your breath while performing the routine slowly.
Jackknife sit-ups
This exercise starts by lying on the floor with your hands at your sides for balance. At the same time, raise your knees and slowly raise your upper body until your face and knees touch. Slowly return to the starting position with complete control over the movement. The name jackknife comes from the natural tendency for your legs to bend at the knees and your feet to drop to your hips, forming a jackknife. You can increase the difficulty of this position by holding a weight between your legs while doing the sit-up.
V-Up
This exercise begins with you lying on your back on the floor with your arms extended above your head. Lift both legs and torso at the same time, but do not bend your knees or arms. Keeping a slow and steady pace, at the top of the arc, reach for your feet with your outstretched hands. Try to touch your feet, if possible. However, this movement can be difficult until you are more flexible. As with any exercise, you can increase the difficulty by placing weight between your legs.
Incorporating these exercises into your fitness routine will help you to tone your abs effectively. Remember to use good posture and breath control to get the best results and prevent injury. Consistency and dedication are the keys to getting the six-pack abs you’ve always wanted.
Published by: May Healthy Lifestyle
