How to Do Weighted Cable Ball Crunches

Nearly everyone is familiar with those ubiquitous abdominal exercises, the sit up and the crunch. These workout classics have withstood the test of time and are still at the core of nearly every abdominal routine. However, sometimes plain sit ups and crunches just are not enough. They can be hard on the back and neck, difficult to accomplish for people recovering from sports injuries or simply not demanding enough for the athletic individual. When your abdominal routine needs a new kick, consider using an exercise ball and a cabled weight to really put a kick in your ab workout.

Things You'll Need

• Large exercise ball
• Cable weight machine

Instructions

How to do weighted cable ball crunches.

1. Lean backward on the ball.
   Your body should be centered across the middle of the ball and your feet should be flat on the floor. You will be using the ball to support your body almost in a bridge position.

2. Grasp the weight bar behind your head.
   You can use either a short bar or a hand strap. Your elbows will be bent and your hands should be approximately in the position that they would be in for a traditional sit up, only they will not be clasped but will be holding the bar.

3. Raise the weight to complete a crunch.
   Do not throw your body forward, but rather use your abs to pull yourself upward. Your feet should remain flat on the floor. If you have to contort your body to do the crunch, decrease the weight you are using and begin again.

4. Lean backward to your original position.
   It is important to lean all the way back rather than doing shortened crunches. If you cannot repeat the motion when you lean all the way backward, you need to decrease the amount of weight that you are lifting. Abdominal exercises do not need to be done with large amounts of weight because they are a muscle that needs to be toned rather than enlarged. Toning requires high numbers of repetitions at lower weight levels.

5. Repeat the exercise as many times as you wish.
   Some people can only do twenty or thirty of these ab exercises at first. However, some serious athletes do hundreds. Work with a trainer and pay attention to your body's responses to this new exercise to determine what number of repetitions is right for you.

Tips & Warnings

• Start out with a very light weight on the cable. Exercise balls isolate muscles very effectively, and even if you can do hundreds of traditional sit ups or crunches you may not be able to do very many repetitions of this exercise at first because the ball prevents you from using any other muscles to help with your crunch.

• If you feel any pain, discomfort or difficulty breathing, stop exercising and contact your doctor immediately.