Crunches?

xoemarie
xoemarie Posts: 1
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
I know that if you are doing crunches "right", your neck shouldn't hurt.
But it seems like no matter where I place my hands (across chest, behind neck, fingers just touching behind my ears), my neck gets sore after only a few minutes.
Is there any way to prevent neck soreness? I want to continue doing crunches, but I can't if my neck hurts like this..

Replies

  • karenpinkchick
    karenpinkchick Posts: 85
    I think I found that at first but then after a while it stopped... I dont remember that I was doing them wrong but it just hurt for a while!!
  • aprilgicker
    aprilgicker Posts: 395 Member
    You are pulling your head up by using your neck muscles. If you are working out at a gym. try some of their target machines to strengthen your stomach first, then move back to the crunches.
    if not try this:
    lay on the ground with your feet lock under something stable.
    wrap a towel under your armpit and cross in front.
    it should look like your starting to tie a bow.
    cross your arms and grab the towel.
    This will help you concentrate on your stomach muscles.
    If you pull the towel to tight you are using your arms and neck. Relax and just use your stomach.

    Also, make sure you breath out on the up.
  • MichelleFirestone
    MichelleFirestone Posts: 212 Member
    I hate crunches because of the pains you get in your back and neck. I bought a balance ball. and do my crunches on that, and I love it. the pains are gone, and it gives you more of a work out, because you have to balance yoursleft. sometimes I just get on the ball to stretch my back.
  • Sparklewolfie
    Sparklewolfie Posts: 271
    I had that problem for a while too! My solution turned out to be: don't look at your belly!:tongue:
    When I was crunching, I would look at my belly button, but I was tensing my neck muscles when I did that. Now I try to keep my neck in a neutral position and gaze off into the distance (or the ceiling, really) and focus on lifting my upper body with my abs, rather than curling in with my neck:happy: I hope that can help you too:wink: !
  • nettip
    nettip Posts: 113 Member
    my trainer get me to lay on the floor or ball, hold arms up in the air clamp hand together find a point on the ceiling and reach for the point on the ceiling. i have found this give me a better workout as it works you sides aaswell as centre abs oh and not to mention your arms!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    proper form of a crunch means your neck stays straight and your shoulders come off the floor by only two to three inches. Concentrate on a point on the ceiling where your eyes are comfortable and stay focused on that point. That should help keep your neck straight.

    A few minutes of crunches is all you need anyway, if you can do hundreds of them, then you're doing to many. Once you get to the point where 50 or so crunches doesn't give you a good "burn", then you need to move towards more advanced routines or add weight to the routine.

    Doing tons of crunches doesn't do any more for you then doing a few, well performed crunches and can compromise your back if done even slightly incorrect. Put it this way, I do 35 crunches, in about 2 minutes, holding each crunch to a count of 3 thousand. At the end I still receive a small burn, but I also use a 20 lb plate when I do them (I've been doing core work for over 18 months so this is expected).

    I can give you a list of more advanced abdominal exercises if you like, crunches alone are ok, but if you do crunches and nothing else you're going to unbalance your core, you need twisting, negative exercises, glut work, and lower back and oblique work in order to keep your core balanced and strong, otherwise you risk pulling your spine out of alignment.
  • heyzoos
    heyzoos Posts: 21
    Crunches are a completely overrated exercise IMHO, and done in excess or even at all (by unfit people) they can be extremely damaging to your spine.

    Read here for an explanation why:

    http://www.healthline.com/blogs/exercise_fitness/2007/09/good-life-works-better-than-bad-ab.html

    http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-human-condition/2009/06/03/stop-doing-sit-ups-why-crunches-don-t-work.html

    Do pushups with correct form (tuck in your hips). And planks for time (side planks as well). Once you can do these static holds for at least one minute. Progress to using bands, standing up (the way your body is designed to work!)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XRe6HA7DVo

    As a general rule, unless the exercise is a static hold of some kind (like a plank) you should always be standing up when doing a trunk (core, ab whatever you like to call it) exercise. And you shouldn't be bending at the waist in an extreme way (eg. touching your toes). Use your legs, squat or lunge to pick things up from the ground, and at the same time keep your hips tucked in, shoulders back and head.neck in alignment (i.e. good posture). Trust me, your pain will no longer exist if you follow these rules!
  • mangorabbit
    mangorabbit Posts: 219 Member
    Wow, that is a whole lot of useful info all at once!
    Everyone makes very good points - I was told to imagine that there is an orange between my chin and neck/clavicle...essentially it is the same as making sure you are looking more up than in towards your torso - the orange bit just caught my fancy.

    Good luck in reducing the pain!

    (And the swiss ball is a great tool, for all kinds of stuff as well as ab work!)
  • xXmimiXx
    xXmimiXx Posts: 564 Member
    You need to relax and focus on only using your stomach muscles to do the movement, focus your eyes on a point on the ceiling and make sure your neck and head don't move when you move up into the exercise.

    Good luck!
  • IngeS18
    IngeS18 Posts: 36
    It took me a while to figure out the right way to do crunches as well.
    This is what I do: I use a special bench at the Gym, but oherwise find a comfortable place to lie down (like get a yoga mat or something) and place your feet under something for stability.
    Then fold your arms across your chest (I do this with a 10lbs weight clenched under them, but that's optional)
    Now when you do the crunches make sure you don't follow your movement with your eyes, just keep looking up, find a fixed point.
    Keep movements slow and concentrated. DO NOT use momentum, this does nothing for your abs.
    Then when you're up keep your abs tightened and hold that position for a couple seconds. Then SLOWLY come back down.
    You will feel the burn when you do your crunches slow like that, I also think that the weight I use helps a lot as this will keep pressure on your torso while you are trying to sit up and it takes more effort to slowly sit back down.
    Mostly just focus on the abs so you don't use any other muscles to pull yourself up with.

    hope this helps =)
  • FitnessTim
    FitnessTim Posts: 234 Member
    Crunches are a completely overrated exercise IMHO, and done in excess or even at all (by unfit people) they can be extremely damaging to your spine.

    Read here for an explanation why:

    http://www.healthline.com/blogs/exercise_fitness/2007/09/good-life-works-better-than-bad-ab.html

    http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-human-condition/2009/06/03/stop-doing-sit-ups-why-crunches-don-t-work.html

    Do pushups with correct form (tuck in your hips). And planks for time (side planks as well). Once you can do these static holds for at least one minute. Progress to using bands, standing up (the way your body is designed to work!)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XRe6HA7DVo

    As a general rule, unless the exercise is a static hold of some kind (like a plank) you should always be standing up when doing a trunk (core, ab whatever you like to call it) exercise. And you shouldn't be bending at the waist in an extreme way (eg. touching your toes). Use your legs, squat or lunge to pick things up from the ground, and at the same time keep your hips tucked in, shoulders back and head.neck in alignment (i.e. good posture). Trust me, your pain will no longer exist if you follow these rules!

    I don't agree that crunches should be avoided altogether but it is true that one should not focus on crunches as the only ab exercise. Planks are a brutally effective methods for developing a strong core but most people don't do them.

    It is also important to remember that no amount of ab work is going to give you a flat stomach if you have excess body fat.
  • gupton11
    gupton11 Posts: 80
    Crunches put a lot of pressure on the weakest part of your spine. Stick with leg raises. Then when you get in better shape go with a janda sit-up. Personally I've been doing Leg/Hip Raises, planks, Side Planks, Saxon Side Bends, Renegade Rows, Mountain Climbers, and Full Contact Twist a couple times a week. I don't mess with machines or sit-ups.
  • rmccully
    rmccully Posts: 319
    bump
  • Sparklewolfie
    Sparklewolfie Posts: 271
    So would 100s and single leg stretches be better than doing say, bicycles? I am currently doing 100s, then 15 slow single leg stretches, then 15 slow bicycles, then plank pose for 30 seconds (working up to 60)

    Plank pose really does feel like a good workout despite not actually moving :glasses: and I don't get bored as easily! I have workout ADD :bigsmile: and easily get back pain :grumble:
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    So would 100s and single leg stretches be better than doing say, bicycles? I am currently doing 100s, then 15 slow single leg stretches, then 15 slow bicycles, then plank pose for 30 seconds (working up to 60)

    Plank pose really does feel like a good workout despite not actually moving :glasses: and I don't get bored as easily! I have workout ADD :bigsmile: and easily get back pain :grumble:

    Well 100's of crunches are probably not a good idea for anyone in general, it is a quick path to repetitive stress injuries. See, the abs and lower back muscles may look like big strapping muscles, but they're actually quite thin, and not very strong for muscles. So there's no need to do tons of work with them. Any good routine you see (whether it be a video or a trainer) you'll notice they all have three things in common. First, the repetitions are usually kept under 30, second, the time they work on the core is usually kept under 10 minutes and put you through a wide range of routines that include bending, twisting, and isometric routines (like planks), and third, they all perform intense, low volume activity to strengthen the muscles in ways they aren't normally used (to promote building muscle as opposed to just activating muscle). This is because of the type of muscles that are in the core. Mostly small muscles that are responsible not for large movement but for stabilization so doing large volumes of low resistance work are what they always do and will provide less return.

    That means, hold your crunches with good form for 2 to 4 seconds each instead of going for as many as you can.
    That means doing twisting motion routines like russian twists, bicycle crunches, oblique twists, and medicine ball wall throws.
    That means lower ab and glut work like static lunges, weighted leg lifts, supermans, and 1handed planks.
    That means any planks you do, do them in a mirror to confirm that your body is straight and not "elbowed", and what ever you
    think you can do, you can do 10 seconds more

    hope this helps.
  • mrsyac2
    mrsyac2 Posts: 2,784 Member
    I know that if you are doing crunches "right", your neck shouldn't hurt.
    But it seems like no matter where I place my hands (across chest, behind neck, fingers just touching behind my ears), my neck gets sore after only a few minutes.
    Is there any way to prevent neck soreness? I want to continue doing crunches, but I can't if my neck hurts like this..

    sounds like its your form.. Make sure you are lookin up and not over extending your neck don't let your chin near your chest.
  • Sparklewolfie
    Sparklewolfie Posts: 271

    Well 100's of crunches are probably not a good idea for anyone in general, it is a quick path to repetitive stress injuries. See, the abs and lower back muscles may look like big strapping muscles, but they're actually quite thin, and not very strong for muscles. So there's no need to do tons of work with them. Any good routine you see (whether it be a video or a trainer) you'll notice they all have three things in common. First, the repetitions are usually kept under 30, second, the time they work on the core is usually kept under 10 minutes and put you through a wide range of routines that include bending, twisting, and isometric routines (like planks), and third, they all perform intense, low volume activity to strengthen the muscles in ways they aren't normally used (to promote building muscle as opposed to just activating muscle). This is because of the type of muscles that are in the core. Mostly small muscles that are responsible not for large movement but for stabilization so doing large volumes of low resistance work are what they always do and will provide less return.

    That means, hold your crunches with good form for 2 to 4 seconds each instead of going for as many as you can.
    That means doing twisting motion routines like russian twists, bicycle crunches, oblique twists, and medicine ball wall throws.
    That means lower ab and glut work like static lunges, weighted leg lifts, supermans, and 1handed planks.
    That means any planks you do, do them in a mirror to confirm that your body is straight and not "elbowed", and what ever you
    think you can do, you can do 10 seconds more

    hope this helps.

    100s is a Pilates move... :laugh: Not 100 crunches! I would get bored before 30!
    Ooh I forgot about static lunges! I'll have to add that to my routine :3

    I have never had a problem with plank posture, but I don't think I would be able to do a one-handed plank :embarassed: so... weak...! Thanks for the suggestions :smile:
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