Selecting a safe and effective abdominal exercise can be a challenge for girls. Teen magazines show many stomach exercises and television commercials promote a variety of abdominal-strengthening products. The bicycle crunch is an abdominal-strengthening movement that does not require equipment, is safe and is one of the most effective stomach exercises you can perform.
Effectiveness
The American Council on Exercise, or ACE, studied 13 abdominal exercises. The study, led by Dr. Peter Francis at the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University, compared basic abdominal exercises by measuring the amount of muscle activity generated. The results, published by ACE in May 2001, list the bicycle crunch as the most effective exercise for strengthening the rectus abdominis, the muscle that runs the length of your stomach, and the second most effective for strengthening the obliques, the muscles on the sides of your stomach.
Bicycle Crunch
Perform the bicycle crunch lying face up on the floor. Place an exercise mat under your back for comfort. Place your hands behind your head. Keep your fingers separate, not laced together, and position your thumbs under your ears. Point your elbows out to the sides. Bend your knees and lift your feet off the floor so your thighs are straight up and down. Straighten your right leg as you bring your left knee toward your chest. Lift your upper body off the floor and twist your right elbow toward your left knee. Switch leg positions as if pedaling a bicycle and rotate your upper body toward your right knee.
Duration
The goal of abdominal-strengthening exercises is to tire your stomach muscles. Aim to complete two to three sets of the highest number of bicycle crunches you are able to finish. Complete an equal number of twists to both sides during the bicycle crunch. Francis suggests performing abdominal exercises five minutes a day to strengthen your stomach and improve your posture.
Muscles Worked
The bicycle crunch is effective at strengthening the rectus abdominis muscle. This muscle runs down the center of your stomach from your ribs to your pelvis. When you shorten the distance between your ribs and pelvis, such as when you bring your knee and chest toward each other, the rectus abdominis muscle contracts. The bicycle crunch also strengthens your obliques with the twist in the upper body. The obliques run on a diagonal along the side of your stomach.
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