The vertical leg crunch is a body weight exercise that targets your abdominal muscles. It is a slightly more challenging exercise than the standard crunch. Although an effective ab exercise, contrary to popular belief, performing the vertical leg crunch does not activate the lower abs any more than a regular crunch.
The Basics
Lie on your back on a mat with your hands behind your head. Lift your legs up so they are perpendicular to the floor with a slight bend in your knees. Cross your ankles. Push your lower back into the floor. This is the starting position. Exhale and curl up until your shoulder blades are off the floor, but do not allow your lower back to lift off the floor. Keep your hands gently crossed behind your head, but do not pull with your arms. Relax your head back, keeping your neck in line with your spine. Pause for a count. Inhale and lower back to the floor.
Muscles Worked
The vertical leg crunch works your abdominal muscles. The primary mover is your rectus abdominis, your main ab muscle -- the "six-pack" muscle. The rectus abdominis flexes your spine, meaning it pulls your rib cage toward your hip bone. The vertical leg crunch also activates your obliques, or side abs. In fact, the vertical leg crunch engages your obliques significantly more than a standard crunch.
Effectiveness
The American Council on Exercise, or ACE, tested the effectiveness of the vertical leg crunch against 12 other types of crunches, including a standard crunch. Researchers used electromyography equipment to measure the amount of activation each exercise elicited in the abdominal muscles. The vertical leg crunch engaged the abdominal muscles 29 percent more than the standard crunch, and it engaged the obliques 116 percent more than the standard crunch. The study found the stability ball crunch to be the best overall exercise because it engaged the abdominals with the least amount of help from the quadriceps, or thigh muscles.
Targeting Lower Abs
One of the popular misconceptions about ab exercises is that if you lift your legs, you will target your lower abs more than your upper abs. A study conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee refutes this theory. Researchers tested the vertical leg crunch and three other abdominal exercises by placing electromyography equipment on each of the four abdominal quadrants. None of the four abdominal exercises, including the vertical leg crunch, elicited any more activity in the lower quadrants than the upper quadrants.
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