Pain-free Crunches!

The crunch is a fundamental ab exercise. It can be a vital step towards attaining the mythical "6-pack" while reducing risk of back injury and providing you with the core strength necessary to properly carry out a variety of other exercises and activities. Unfortunately, the crunch is generally done flat-out wrong. Doing any exercise incorrectly can cause strain, pain and possibly serious injury which, understandably, will discourage their future inclusion in your workout plan. Many people do not use this basic, important exercise because it hurts them to do so.

Which is a shame and injustice that must be corrected.

During a crunch, the goal is to use the muscles of your stomach to lift your torso off the ground. This can be difficult. So, in an effort to help themselves many people will lace their fingers behind their head and pull their neck forward. This puts enormous amounts of strain on the relatively weak muscles of the posterior neck and results in neck pain. This also increases the tendency to round the lower spine, which should be kept straight.

Occasionally, people anchor their feet while doing crunches by placing weights on them or tucking them under a piece of furniture. Don't do that. This will engage the leg and hip muscles and reduce the amount of actual work that your abs are doing. While this isn't likely to cause injury, it is very likely to waste your time.

To do a crunch properly, lay on the ground with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Choose a hand position that works for you and tighten your abs to lift your torso as high as you can. Keep your neck straight and neutral throughout the movement. Focusing on a spot on the ceiling will help. Make sure there is a space between your chin and your chest. Slowly lower yourself back to the starting position. If you experience lower back pain or have difficulty keeping your back on the ground, try placing your calves up on a bench or chair.

The hand positions can make a large difference in the difficulty of the crunch. The easiest position places your hands on the floor at your sides. To make it slightly harder, cross them on your chest. And the hardest way to do a crunch, without adding weights, is to place your hands on the back of your neck. The closer your hands are to your head, the harder the crunch will be. Again: do not lace your fingers together on the back of your head.

While alone they won't give you a 6-pack (I'll talk about the Spot Training Myth another time) well-executed crunches can be a major contributor to your abdominal strength. Having a strong core will improve your posture, which will strengthen your back and in general, will probably feel better about yourself.