While your cardio workout is a great supplement for burning body fat, so is building muscle. The muscle you are building underneath that layer of fat makes it easier for you to shed those unsightly pounds around your midsection.
One of the most effective ways to build muscle in your abdominal region is crunches, but only if they are done right. This article outlines the benefits, how to warm-up, how to properly preform a crunch in order to prevent injury and how to cool down your abdominal muscles after your workout.
Benefits
The benefits to doing crunches do not stop at your stomach. Crunches work all of the muscles in your stomach, lower back, legs, butt and hips. Even though you are aiming to increase the definition of your abs, crunches will help increase the strength in a lot of different muscles.
How to Warm-up
To warm-up for crunches, you will need to properly stretch your entire body. You should always make it a habit to stretch all of your muscles to accommodate the increased blood flow through your body and to prevent injury.
You will also want to get your blood pumping by doing low impact exercises to warm up your muscles.
The Proper Form
It is important to ensure that every crunch you do is completed properly. This is because if you use the wrong technique, you could cause serious injury to your back, or cause back and neck pain.
The Steps to Perform a Proper Crunch
• Lay down flat on the floor.
• Elevate your feet if necessary so that when bent, your knees are at a 90 degree angle to your body.
• Cross your hand over your chest. If you are attempting a more advanced crunch, place your fingertips lightly on the back of your head with your elbows extended in a “V Shape.”
• Ensure that there is at least a fist’s width of space between your chin and your chest.
• Pull your belly button in toward the base of your spine.
• Sit up until your elbows or chest reach your knees. Make sure to use your abdominal muscles instead of your back, leg, neck or arm muscles.
• Make sure to exhale as you sit up, and inhale as you lay down.
• Do 10 to 15 crunches per repetition depending on your skill level. Make sure to stretch between repetitions
• There are a lot of variations of the crunch, but this method is considered the basic style of crunch, and is very effective for creating the 6 pack abs that you dream of.
How to Cool Down
Cooling down is extremely important after crunches. Cooling down is a method of releasing lactic acid from the muscles, which will cause you to be stiff and sore later. The more you cool down, the less lactic acid becomes trapped in the muscles.
In order to cool down, stretch all of the muscles in your body in repetitions for at least 15 minutes. Take a walk to ensure that the lactic acid reaches your blood stream where it can be properly eliminated from the body.