Single best crunch for abs?

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!

Personally I don't like planks (or most ab exercises), and regular crunches never did much for me before. But I learned a simple ab exercise that I don't know the name of that has worked fantastically for my balance and strengthening my core, which in turn has made my walking/running endurance a little better.

Lie on your back with your legs straight out and your arms straight above you. Hold a small exercise ball/pillow/stuffed animal between your ankles and bring it up slowly without bending your knees as your raise your arms to meet it over your stomach. Pass the object back and forth in this way 15 times, rest for 2 minutes, then do it again. The slower you go, the more you'll feel it by the end.
The first time I did it I was like, "wow, that's easy" and did like 3 times that.... I could barely move for a week. Sneezing and laughing were sooo painful. So Iearned the hard way that it works!

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

This ^^^

Aside from planks 2x a week, I don't do any other form of ab work. I rely on my lifts to take care of that. I stopped doing crunches a year ago because I realized it was making my abs look worse (I have a slight separation from having 2 big kiddos). When you're doing step ups, lunges, squats, deadlifts, etc., they are very engaged and you can feel that working. I think ab work is redundant if you're doing compound lifts.

While I'm a huge proponent of Squats and Deadlifts as the best total-body exercises, when it comes to core-specific moves, my favorite is without question the Ab Wheel. I'm also a big fan of planks, although my biggest criticism is that they're more geared toward muscular endurance rather than having an eccentric and concentric portion to the movement.

Other ab exercises I use include Lying Leg Raises, Decline Board crunches, and weighted Swiss Ball crunches.

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

Agree.
And side planks.
And 6-inch killers.
And look up the C-Sit Position.