Single best crunch for abs?

I would say if you are only going to do one, then do bicycle crunches.

Yup, thats what I was refering to. Just make sure that you do them in a slow and controlled manner.

What ZyLahe said; the plank. Im a certified personal trainer. Crunches arent very effective at building a nice abdominal core. Things that involve the deep inner core"Transverses abdominal) muscle are.

These things include planks and stomach vacuums. Also things like ab wheels, and putting your hands on a upside down boso ball and doing knee tucks work also.

Planks, like in yoga class? I can do those. Should I hold it as long as possible and work my way up, or do several of them alternating with something else, or...?

Try all sorts of things. Regularly. It all challenges the core and builds strength. :-)

Add variations to the plank such as having the hands further forward than for a normal plank or walking the hands towards the feet and back to the start. Look up hindu push ups, mountain climbers, bear crawling...

Unfortunately, you have picked the wrong body part to only do one exercise.

Your core, twists about 280 degrees, goes backwards and forwards (crunches only go forwards) moves side to side, goes forwards twists and moves side to side, has to protect you from sudden impacts (bracing), adjusts your centre of gravity and so on and so forth.

With your rucksack, and assuming you know how to engage your core.

woodchoppers - 15 each side
gravediggers - 15 each side
oblique side raises - 25 each side nice and slow
get two rucksacks, raise your arms to shoulder height, engage your rotator cuff moving shoulders backwards, turn to the left, back to centre, turn to the right - slow rep counts and 15 each side and try to increase range of twist each time.
single stiff leg deadlift - rucksack as the counterbalance and forces you to balance and use the core
crunches - holding rucksack at your chest or behind head for high intensity
plank - wear the rucksack if you want
superman - to reverse all the forward movements
cobra - to reverse all the forward movements

Cheers

Squats and deadlifts.

OK how about hanging leg raises (hold pullup bar, keeping legs straight move ankles to hands)

I personally have yet to do any direct ab work of note. I will do a little when I switch to bulking.

For bodyweight training, you might want to check out the book Convict Conditioning. I started doing it and I really like it. In the book they have you do leg raises. For beginners you start off doing leg raises from the edge of a chair or table.

Plank.
Technically not a crunch, but i think it works rhe core so much more than crunches.

You have this one right.. My abs scream at me after planks. I feel I have done a better ab workout with planks then if I do crunches

I prefer the big crunch. It works your abs from the inside out. ***please use with caution, this is an advanced training technique.

Thanks above poster, that exact thing has led to my current 'abs':grumble:


:laugh:

When I went to a personal trainer, I was amazed that the best core work besides the plank and push ups, was not holding on while doing your cardio

I feel sad when I see someone on 10 incline, going 10mph and holding on for dear life She would pull my hands from the arm bars on the Ellip and made me learn to do it hands free.

Oh and I felt BAD *kitten* doing it:laugh: (this from the girl who strarted out with 2 minutes and a tank of oxygen:embarassed: )

I am so glad to know that I am not imagining that I get a better workout when I do not hold on to the bars. I refuse to use the arm swings on my elliptical and I got so confident in the fact that I got a better calorie burn and ab workout with it that I even started suggesting it to my friends to do the same thing

Squat or deadlifts for me...

Plank.
Technically not a crunch, but i think it works rhe core so much more than crunches.

^^^^ I second that. Planks hands down

OK, you guys have convinced me: I need more than one ab move. I'm adding bicycle crunches, planks, and leg raises to my routine for a start. Now to figure out how many reps to do of each.

The trainer (I'm a newbie to fitness and trainers) has me do two planks or side planks during my workout, but I imagine s/he will have me change the number from time to time - once during a workout, twice sometimes, etc. The time varies, too. Sometimes 20 seconds, sometimes 30 seconds. Variety of exercises used, reps, duration, etc. seem to be the ticket to working out, or so it seems in my experiences so far.

Good luck with your workouts.

I definitely agree with the plank!! Plus, there are all sorts of "variations" that you can do once a regular one gets easy (I've never gotten to this point... LOL).

The other one I love/hate is the prone jackknife. You start in a plank position on a swiss ball, and the you pull your knees to your chest so you are tucked up, and then you push back out to the start (a google video would make much more sense lol... they are actually pretty simple in theory). I get an amazing workout from this!