I hate to have to ask this question, but how do you guys perform your crunches? I just want to compare how I do it with how you guys or gals do them.
I basically, do a half sit up. As my abs start the contraction, I release and go back down. Sometimes I twist a little to either side. Any other experiences?
I do bicycle situps/crunches mainly. Basically you try to touch you right elbow to your left knee and your left elbow to your right knee. Works greats, remember to pedal your legs, you dont want lopsided freak abs now do you :D. Got the highest score for ab excercises in Men’s Health Magazine. I also do the Bridge. Get in a standard pushup position, then put your weight on your forearms with your upper arms perpendicualr to the floor, see how long you can hold it, I usually get alittle bit of an ab workout from slow pushups anyway but i like seeing improvements on how long i can hold it. Also try Vertical-Leg Crunch, Lie on your back, lift your leg so your thigh is perpendicular to the floor, bend your knee slightly and crunch with your legs still in the air. I tried do reverse crunches but i musta been doing them wrong because they only seemed to work my inner thighs so thats what i use them for. There are not many more ab excercises worth doing unless your using an apparatus.
I usually do sit ups on an incline bench - is that a good exercise or am I wasting my time?
You dont really get a full range of motion on an incline bench. The only reason i find to do a crunch on a bench is for a resisted ab crunch meaning a crunch with weights, and under no circumstances would you use an ab rocker, not only is it bad for your back but it works terribly. Just to show you how bad it was, in Men’s Health magazine the base score was 100 which is where the traditonal crunch is scored at, the ab rocker got a 21, the best ab excercise which was the bicycle crunches got a 248.
Bicycle crunches are pretty dumb, IMO. People equate “ow my abs are burning” with “hey, i’m getting a good ab workout.”
I guess if you’re looking for ab endurance, bicycle crunches might be a good way to go. But if you want ab strength, you won’t get very far with them.
Ab strength is good for things like stabilizing your body when you perform a heavy lift.
Ab endurance is good for things like helping to maintain good form during sparring.
You need both.
I think this was my shortest post ever in this forum 
IronFist
you dont want lopsided freak abs now do you
You can’t get lopsided freak abs unless you have the genetics for lopsided freak abs. The only thing doing bicycle crunches on one side would give you would be lopsided hip flexors and obliques. The abs are one muscle. It’s either contracting or it’s not contracting. You can’t do part of it. There’s no upper abs, there’s no lower abs. There’s no left abs, and there’s no right abs. There’s just one muscle, seperated into 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 sections by tendons that stretch across it.
But even so, you should always try to exercise symmertrically (I think I spelled that wrong) in my opinion.
IronFist
..
What do you mean by pedal your legs?
If I sounded like a díck in my first reply, sorry. Endurance is a very important aspect of conditioning. Just don’t think that because some fitness magazine gave them the highest marks that they are the ultimate method of ab training.
IronFist
No its cool, i’m trying to loose my stomach but i also do resisted ab crunches with weights so it balances out. What do you suggest.
Be careful with the weighted crunches… if you do them with a set and rep scheme similiar to how a bodybuilder does barbell curls, for example, you can experience hypertrophy in your abs which will make your stomach bigger.
IronFist
You mean…
That they enlarge the abs or your stomach? Well they sure don’t slim ya down thats for sure. I have a friend who did them alot and noticed he was getting thicker in the midsection, so he stopped. He wanted lean, not big muscle.
So, Ironfist, or anyone else that knows what they’re talking about…
I’ve been doing this from Rene’s site;
http://wingchunkuen.com/journal/features/gyatso_guts.shtml
and I’d like a better reason than ‘It looked good to me!’.
My aim is strength, endurance, and a grid you could cook waffles on (in that order).
Re: You mean…
Originally posted by Kungfu boy
That they enlarge the abs or your stomach? Well they sure don’t slim ya down thats for sure. I have a friend who did them alot and noticed he was getting thicker in the midsection, so he stopped. He wanted lean, not big muscle.
They enlarge your abs, not your actual stomach. Your stomach is actually up higher than most people thing. See the bottom of where your ribs come together? That’s kinda where your stomach is. Down lower by your abs is your intestines. When people usually say “ow I have a stomach ache” and they rub by their belly button, that’s actually their intestines and not their stomach.
Anyway, the only way to enlarge your stomach organ is to eat a lot and stretch it out, I guess. 
Weighted crunches have the potential, if done wrong, to enlarge your ab muscles, not the stomach.
IronFist
Originally posted by Mat
[B]So, Ironfist, or anyone else that knows what they’re talking about…
I’ve been doing this from Rene’s site;
http://wingchunkuen.com/journal/features/gyatso_guts.shtml
and I’d like a better reason than ‘It looked good to me!’.
My aim is strength, endurance, and a grid you could cook waffles on (in that order). [/B]
I’m reading the article now. It seems like a lot of exercises that do the same thing. I don’t like this paragraph:
“The optimal sequence is to train the rectus abdominus (the “six pack”) with emphasis on the upper abs (above the navel), then the rectus abdominus with emphasis on the lower abs (below the navel), then the external obliques (the “love handles”), then the internal obliques (underneath the externals), then the serratus. The reason for this order is to first fatigue muscles which will inhibit the development of other muscles trained in this sequence after them.”
There is no upper and lower abs. See my other posts for explination.
I realize that all the exercises he has listed affect the abs in a slightly different manner, but I think if you do all the exercises there every day it would be kind of overkill, not to mention tons of reps.
If you like his program, I would say do maybe one of his “ab” exercises and one of his “oblique” exercises each time you work out your abs. You can vary them if you want, but there’s really no sense in doing 5 different ab exercises every day, IMO.
If you are interested in ab training I strongly recommend you research the Janda situp at t-mag’s site. I really don’t like them, but, they do have some good articles by OTHER PEOPLE there so there is some information to be gained. Be warned, however, their site is kind of one giant ad for their crummy products, but you should be able to find Pavel’s article there about Janda situps. Incorporate these into your workout and your abs will become very strong. Note that they won’t do much for endurance, but your abdominal strength will increase.
Edit: aren’t I nice? I found it for you Janda situps. You can do them without a partner, but it takes some muscle control. Just push your feet down and towards you into the ground. Read the article. You’ll see.
IronFist
Janda’s rule! I think most of you who are used to regular crunches and move over to the Janda will be in for a surprise.
I’ve been doing them for about six months with great success.
Another great exercise for abs is using the ab-wheel. The great thing about this device is that it also works other muscles along with the abs. If you read the article Ironfist has so kindly posted a link for, you’ll find this exercise mentioned as well.
KG
Thanks Ironfist, I’ll check it out.