1. The Best for Belly Busting
Crunches are great to flatten the tummy and tone those abs. The create the six packs that you always wanted or reduce to potbelly to nothing. Normal crunches hit the middle muscles but omit the obliques. There are a variety of ways to exercise those muscles. One way is to add a little extra to your crunch to melt away love handles.
2. Normal Crunch
Learn the regular crunch first. Lie on the floor and put your hands across the chest or beside the head. Raise the legs so the thigh is at a 90-degree angle to the floor and the feet are flat. Inhale slowly to a count of four. Blow your breath out slowly to the same count and, as you exhale, raise your head and hips simultaneously. Use your abdominal muscles to raise both. Hold for a second and inhale as you slowly lower your head and hips. Repeat reps and sets.
3. Do the Circle
The circle is a way of doing the crunch that exercises all the abdominal muscles, including the obliques. The exercise is much like the normal crunch but with a little extra pizzazz. Lay on the floor in crunch position with your hands at the side of your head and your knees bent. Exhale as you raise both the hips and the head, bringing your knees toward your head. Instead of just holding position, rotate the upper torso as you make your ribs draw a circle, first in a clockwise direction for several counts. Lower the body and lift again, this time go in a counterclockwise direction several times. Do several reps. As you improve, increase the number of circles done in each repetition and the number of reps in each set.
4. Circle Crunch on a Ball
Want a real challenge? Try the circle crunch on an exercise ball. Sit on the ball and keep the feet flat on the floor. Allow the ball to roll back slowly as you lie back. When your body and thighs are parallel to the floor you are in start position. Tighten your abs and lift your upper torso about 25 to 30 degrees. Rotate from the ribs in clockwise circles. Do as many as you can and slowly lower the body as you inhale. Raise it again and go counterclockwise. If you find this is too easy, put your feet closer together to make it tougher.
5. A Hanging Rotational Crunch
This is almost too tough for anyone but the extremely fit. Hold the chinning bar and use a palm down grip. Keep the hands shoulder width apart. Bend your knees and continue to raise them until your thighs become parallel to the floor. Use the hips to create a circular motion with the lower half of the body. First go clockwise and then counter-clockwise.
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