How To Properly Do Crunches

Video Transcript

"Now we're going to show you a simple abdominal crunch using the physio ball. The abdominal crunch is the standard movement to train the core and there's several different techniques to use, but we're going start off very simple. First of all make sure that when you sit on the ball you can sit on top of it and that your hips aren't lower than your knees, that's how you know you have a good size ball. They come in sizes of 25 centimeters, 45, 65 and 75 centimeters. For most people a 55 centimeter ball is efficient. A ball smaller than this one we can put in between our legs or over our head when we're doing advanced movements. Now, as we start off with our crunch, first what I'm going to do is make sure that our butt and our hands are positioned correctly. Roll yourself forward just enough so that your lower back is making contact with the ball. Take your hands and place them to the sides of your head. I'm not going to put my hands behind my head because when I do that it triggers a response for my head to tilt forward. So instead of doing that we're just going to put our hands on the side. Now I should be sitting nice and upright. I'm going to lower myself back just enough so I can look up and see the sky. Then from this position I'm just going to rise forward. Keep good control of your abs and your lower back, get a good tight squeeze, lean back and then rise up forward. Once again, there's not hurkie jurkie movements, everything is nice and smooth. Watch how good 5 reps look. Now, the key to a good abdominal exercise is to keep your abs contracted throughout the entire movement. That's why I don't have to do two other repetitions to build a nice strong six pack."