You must have often heard a friend or acquaintance say that they want to start a firm gym from the next day. It is a different thing that they never apply it in real and then gradually obesity and other physical problems surround them. It is necessary to be aware of now that such a situation does not arise. For this, good sleep, adequate food and many types of exercises must be included in your routine. Now, you will think that you have to go to the gym for exercise, but it is not so. You can keep yourself fit by just doing crunch exercises at home.
In this article, you’ll get to know the perks of crunches. Also, you’ll learn how to do this exercise properly. Before proceeding with the article, we strictly suggest consulting your physician to avoid anybody complications.
What is Crunch Exercise?
Crunch exercise is the most popular among gym enthusiasts, exercisers as well as sportspeople. This exercise is done by lying on the back and is not only easy to do, but it is also quick to benefit. Through this exercise, weight can be reduced along with tightening of the abdominal muscles. This can be a good exercise for those who want to lose belly fat. Crunches are a common and preferred way to gain abs and tighten the abdominal muscles.
Crunches not only help you to lose belly fat but also help you in getting the loose belly muscles tightened, firm and in shape. Crunches burn enough amount of calories and make you sweat enough to lose pounds quicker. This exercise can be done in many ways. The best thing about crunches is that they are an integral part of Home workouts and are effective enough too. Mentioned below are the types of crunch exercises and ways to ace them.
Types of Crunch Exercise:
Although there are many types of crunch exercises here, we are mentioning the main and beneficial types.
- Basic crunch
- Reverse crunch
- Vertical leg crunch
- Long-arm crunches
- Bicycle crunch
- Double crunch
After knowing the type of crunch exercises, let us know about its advantages.
Benefits of Crunch Exercises
There is no doubt that doing any kind of exercise is beneficial. Let us know in detail about these advantages.
1. Crunch exercises for strong muscles and strengthening the core.
Crunch exercise can help strengthen muscles. A research paper in this regard is available on the website of NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information). This research paper states that if crunch exercise or cross crunch exercise is also done once or twice a week, it can help in strengthening the stomach muscles. Results of this type were obtained from tests conducted on 59 men and 59 women. Crunches help you tighten and strengthen your core and tighten the abdominal muscles.
2. To reduce the waist fat
At the beginning of the article, it is mentioned that crunch exercise is called abdominal exercise. At the same time, research published on the NCBI website mentions that doing abdominal exercise does not only reduce abdominal fat, but it can help in reducing the waist fat too. So, if regular crunch exercises, as well as a balanced diet, is taken, the body can be relaxed and find it’s the right shape.
3. Make the body flexible
A number of research institutes have researched young, adult and elderly people on this subject, which has been published on the NCBI website. According to research, everyone’s body flexibility can vary depending on gender, physical ability, age, and training. Study on people of different ages found that people who exercised properly regularly have seen an increase in body flexibility. According to the study, crunch exercise training can increase flexibility.
4. Benefits of exercising crunch to lose weight
Crunch exercise not only helps in losing weight but if it is included in your routine, it can also help in controlling body fat. Research has found that crunch exercise strengthens muscles, which can help reduce excess fat.
After the benefits of crunch exercise, you know the right ways to do crunch exercise.
5. Curing digestive disorder and constipation.
Crunches are suggested physical activity cure many digestive disorders. Especially, they are very beneficial for a smooth and natural bowel movement. Crunch exercises help in curing constipation and ultimately strengthen your metabolism. Doing crunches helps you in increasing the metabolism of your body and improves your tummy, digest food and excrete the waste efficiently. Also, people have accepted the fact that crunches have helped them with their gastric problems. Hence, it is beneficial not just for the outer tummy fat but also for the stomach.
Steps to do Crunch Exercises:
Now, here we are showing how to do the types of crunch exercises mentioned above:
1. Basic Crunch:
Firstly, lie down on your back and spread your legs on the floor. After this, bend the knees and keep your elbows folded hands on the chest. Now exhale, raise the head and chest. Then take a breath and return to the previous position.
2. Reverse crunch
Lie on your back on the mat and keep both your arms straight with the body. After this, bend both your knees to a 90-degree angle. Then exhale, raise the knees and hips. Try to have the knees touch the chest. Then take a breath and come back down, but do not keep the feet on the ground. In this way, you can keep the hips and knees up and down continuously for some time.
3. Vertical leg crunch
First of all, lie back on the mat. Fold your hands behind your neck. Now straighten your both legs upward and raise up. In this case, the body shape will be similar to the L shape of English. Keep in mind that the waist remains on the floor.
After this, while exhaling, try to raise the upper body as much as possible. In this situation, try to restrain yourself for a minute or two. Now take a breath and come back down and repeat this process again.
4. Long Arm Crunch
Lie on the ground on the back and move both hands directly behind the head. The arms should be adjacent to the ear and hold both hands and tie a fist.
Now bend your knees to 40 degrees and while exhaling, try to raise your chest and both hands. Stay in this state for 1 to 2 seconds. After this, take a breath and come back to your state.
5. Bicycle Crunch
Lying on the back on the mat, keep the fingers of both hands behind each other, holding them together and lift both legs slightly up.
After this, bend the right leg with the knee and try to touch the right knee with the left elbow while raising the head up and turning to the left. Make sure that your hands are connected, and the left leg is straight.
After this, straighten the right leg and bring the head down also. After that, bend the left leg with the knee and try to touch the left knee with the right elbow.
6. Double Crunch
Lie flat on your back on the ground. Now move both hands behind your head and bring both knees slightly to the chest. Also, while exhaling, raise your head upwards.
You can do this 12 times in 3 sets. Some precautions are also to be taken while exercising crunch. In this part of the article, we will talk about those precautions.
Precautions for Crunch Exercises:
Some of the precautions related to crunch exercise are as follows:
- Initially, take support to exercise crunch. Otherwise, there is a risk of injury.
- Start should be slow.
- Incorrectly crunch exercise can negatively affect the back and neck. Therefore, first of all, know the correct way and then do it.
- You can also take the help of a trainer to learn crunch.
- If you’re a female, avoid doing crunches when on your menstrual cycle. It can strain on your lower abdomen and pelvis area leading towards pain in your stomach.
- Crunches should also be avoided during the later pregnancy phase. It can harm the foetus and the mother.
Can there be disadvantages to exercising crunch? Let’s know about this.
Side Effects of Crunch Exercise :
- If not done properly, there can be damage. Here we are talking about the disadvantages of doing crunch exercises.
- Incorrect crunch exercise can cause back strain.
- There may be an increased risk of a back injury.
- If done incorrectly, it can cause muscle pain, swelling, injury, stiffness or abdominal pain.
- Doing this after meals can cause severe abdominal pain as well as vomiting.
- The excessive emphasis in crunch exercise can cause muscle stiffness as well as neck pain and sprains.
If you want six-pack abs, then this article written on Crunch Exercise can be very beneficial for you. In this article, you have learnt about the benefits of crunch exercise and its methods. If you are going to start this exercise, then it is better to ask a trainer or a consultant, because whatever exercise is done, it is beneficial to do it with caution and complete information.
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