How to Do Crunches Using Your Bed

Performing crunches can help you to slim your body.

If you are looking to augment your diet plan with a simple exercise aimed at diminishing unsightly flab, crunches can help you do the trick. In fact, crunches are so effective and easy to perform that you can do them at home, using your bed, and reap some of the same benefits derived from expensive exercise equipment. A bed even provides a unique resistance feature that a mat or floor do not provide -- a headboard, which can help you to perform several crunching exercises.

Instructions

1. Lie on your back on the bed. Lay your head on the mattress at a spot that is farthest from the headboard. Place your feet against the headboard and rest your arms at your sides. Breathe in as you raise your shoulders and head 1 inch off the bed. Push your feet against the headboard to provide resistance and create pressure on your abdominal muscles. Maintain this position for two seconds. Breathe out as you slowly lower your head and shoulders back to the bed. This is referred to as a minimal crunch, because the distance you lift your head and shoulders off the bed is minimal.

2. Bend your knees and insert the bottom of your feet into the space between the bottom of the headboard and the bed. Wrap your feet around the bottom of the headboard to increase resistance and apply greater pressure on your abdominal muscles as you do a crunch. Lift your knees toward your chest. Reach your hands out toward your knees as you press your chest in the same direction. Hold this position for 20 seconds. Allow your back to move slightly backward toward the bed, without returning to the bed completely. Tighten your abdominal muscles as you press your body forward, and then loosen them as you move backward. Repeat this action five times, then return your back to the bed.

3. Place your shoulders firmly against the headboard. Rest your arms at your sides and extend your legs. Raise your legs above the bed and move them in a circular motion, as if you are pedaling a bicycle. Lean your shoulders against the headboard to create resistance and cause greater pressure on your abdominal muscles as you pedal. Tilt your chest forward, extend your arms and close each of your hands into a fist. Hurl your arms forward as if you are throwing punches. Throw five punches with your right hand, and then five punches with your left hand.

References

• Medifast Health: Workout While in Your Bed: No Joke