Getting rid of that gut

By Amy Breviano

Getting rid of that gut is easier than you think. A few weeks of exercise and you’ll have a washboard stomach. Trust me.

The Crunch

The crunch, also known as curl-up, is one of the most common exercises for the abdominal muscles, primarily the rectus abdominis. It is considered a safer alternative to the sit-up.

Proper starting form is lying face up on the floor with knees bent. The movement begins by curling the shoulders towards the pelvis, with hands placed behind or beside the neck, or crossed over the chest. Using the hands to exert force on the neck can cause injury, so common practice is to avoid placing the hands behind the head itself.

	The crunch is a safer alternative to the sit-up.

The hands can however, form a shelf to support the weight of the head, so that the neck flexor muscles can relax during the movement. So long as the neck remains in an extended position with the neck flexors relaxed, then the hands are not exerting excessive force and it will not cause injury.

Crunch exercises may be performed on swiss balls. Weights may be used, typically held under the chin, to increase resistance. Holding a medicine ball behind the head exercises the lats[citation needed], and if the elbow is extended so that the forearm is no longer vertical, the triceps, as supporting muscles. Increasing the distance will also increase the load on the abdominals due to leverage.

Unlike the sit-up, when performing a crunch the lower back should not leave the floor. This is said to eliminate any involvement by the hip flexors, and make the crunch an effective isolation exercise for the abdominals. The difficulty of the crunch can be increased by lying on a declined bench and/or holding a weight on the chest or behind the head.