Crunches

[Guest Terin]

I've been doing crunches every night for a few months now, but now I don't feel it as much in my stomach as I used to. I hope this just means they're getting easier for me, but I'm afraid that I might have started doing them wrong. I can feel my upper stomach muscles working, but I don't feel it in my lower abdominal muscles anymore. Are there any tips on either getting back on track or trying new exercises that will work both sets of muscles? Thanks!

[Guest Firebird3000]

I'm not sure if you've heard of these but there called foam rollers. There like pool noodles but shorter and thicker(they can hold your body weight without bending) Anyway I think you can get them at sport centres.

You lie on your back on it and lift your legs up to 90 degrees. You then shift them side to side without falling off the roller (You can have your hands on the floor to help but the goal is not to use them) This really works the lower abs. If you can't find or buy a foam roller you can also try using one of those exercise ###### but I'm not sure what exercises to do on those.

Hope this makes sense and helps

Alex

[TutuGirly]

Pilates! I sware by it! It strengthens all parts of your abdominals and really can work wonders. See if you can get a hold of a video, it is definitely worth checking out.

Also, try doing crunches extremely slow.....that usually makes you feel it. Like, one level at a time. So, go halfway up then all the way up, then halfway down, then all the way down. I've found that helps me really feel my lower abs.

[Guest Terin]

Ok, thanks both of you. I'll definitely try to find foam rollers, and I'll look out for a pilates video. I can never find one or I probably would have started earlier. I've tried really slow crunches before, but never in levels. Thanks again!

[Victoria Leigh]

Terin, for a Pilates video you can go to their web site, www.pilates-studio.com

[Guest Terin]

Ok, thank you!!

[PheonixTutu]

If you want your lower abdominals, try this.

 

Lie on your back, and then put your legs up into the air so your toes point at the ceiling. Then lift your bum off the floor using your lower abdomen. It really works, trust me

[Guest Lukayev]

While you do these abdominal workouts, try to keep the muscle beneath the rectus abdominus (the superficial muscle we know as the bottom 2 'sections' of the all holy six pack) engaged. This muscle is the one we need to keep engaged as dancers, or so the Pilates lady at UBA said. To locate this muscle, either laugh or cough while lying on your back with your hands on your lower abdominals. It should tense up momentarily while you laugh/cough and this is the muscle you're trying to zone in on. Another tip is to not let your stomach pooch out while doing the exercises - what I mean is, try to keep your "six pack" flat and sort of 'splayed out' instead of all gathered up and bunched in the middle. I know this isn't very helpful, but trust me if I could show you you'd get it in an instant. Cheers and happy exercising!

[Guest Terin]

I'll try that, too. Thanks!

[Guest Terin]

Thanks you guys, that really helped! But I was also wondering, what cause would it have if instead of doing 200 crunches in a row at night, I did 100 at night and 100 in the morning? Is it better to do them all at once?

[Guest Terin]

Anyone at all? Maybe I should start a separate thread for this?

[Guest frog]

Remember, when you are doing crunches, make sure you are looking up or you are doing nothing for your abdominals.

 

Ciao!

Chels

[Guest Terin]

Thanks, I'll make sure to remember that!