1. Ride a Bike on Your Back
Lay on the floor and clasp your hands behind your head. Lift your feet from the floor with your legs straightened. Raise your head from the floor like you would in a normal crunch. Bend one knee and, as you do, attempt to touch the opposite elbow to you knee. Go back to the original position and lift the other shoulder as you attempt to move the elbow toward the opposite knee.
2. Help Those Abs
The action of the bicycle crunch is a definite tummy tightener. You get a full workout of the abs when you do a bicycle crunch. It works those muscles that you use to ride a bike and also combines the belly buster of the crunch so it hits both the rectus abdominis and the obliques for the waist. This exercise was rated as the top for the abs by the American Council for Exercise.
3. Focus on Technique
Take it slowly and watch that neck. Pulling on the neck can create undue stress on the cervical discs and create compression. Use the abdominal muscles to lift the head for a safer way. You should feel all the exertion from the abdominal muscles and none from the arms if you do this exercise correctly.
4. Work Your Upper Abs
You can omit the bicycle and use just the upper body. Lay with the body on the bench and hang your legs over the edge. Put your hands behind the head and lift the upper body as you do normally on the bicycle crunch. Do not lift the legs, but focus on the stomach as you touch your hand to the alternate knee. Go back to position with the shoulders slightly off the bench. Touch the opposite hand to the other knee. Remember to always focus on the stomach muscles doing the work. Do not lift with your arms, but squeeze the abs to lift.
5. Focus and Breathe
A very important part of a successful crunch is the focus on the abdominal muscles. This forces you to make certain that you right the right muscle groups and protects the body from straining other areas. Even if you don't lift your head and shoulders from the mat, but feel the crunching effect of the exercise in the abs, your method is correct. You also need to make certain that you breathe with the exercise. Blow out as you crunch together and inhale slowly as you drop back down.
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