Strengthen And Define Your Abs By Doing Crunches

Strengthen And Define Your Abs By Doing Crunches
Ab workouts have become one of the most popular forms of
exercise in recent times. For most people looking to get
into shape, having a well defined and visible six pack is
the ultimate goal from all the dieting and exercise. Not
only does working out your abs help you to look sexy, but
there are other numerous health benefits from having a
strong core including improved performance in sports and
for improvement of several chiropractic problems.

The most popular and basic way to exercise your abs are by
doing "crunches". There are also many different ways to
perform a crunch and we will look into how to do several of
these below.

1. Basic Crunch

I'm sure most of you have tried this one before, it
involves laying on your back with your knees slightly bent
with your feet on the floor, and with your hands either on
your chest or placed behind your head, you slowly lift your
upper body by contracting your abdominal muscles. There is
no need to fully raise yourself as you will no longer be
using your ab muscles but three quarters of upright
position is good.

This is the perfect exercise to begin strengthening your ab
muscles before moving on to more difficult and strenuous
variations of the standard crunch. As the abdominal muscles
are some of the quickest to recover, you may if you like,
perform ab workouts daily.

You also need to remember to do them slowly, and make sure
your ab muscles are doing all of the work, if you go too
fast you will end up using your momentum to lift you rather
than your abs.

2. Oblique Crunch

If you really want the visible results of an ab workout you
should try oblique crunches. Your obliques are also known
as your "love handles" and are found on the sides of your
body from your waist down to your hips. This type of crunch
also works your upper abs and will give you the quickest
visual results.

To perform an oblique crunch, you get into the same
position as a standard crunch but instead of raising your
upper body straight up, you twist your torso to the left or
right (remember to alternate to workout both sides of your
body) to work out those other muscles. While doing oblique
crunches, try to focus on your oblique muscles by
contracting them as hard as you can as you lift yourself
off the floor.

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