Sunday, December 30, 2012
The decline crunch
Most of the fitness centers have a decline sit up board or you can make a decline board on your own provided you keep it stable. Just like the traditional crunch, what you need to do here is to perform crunches but only that you do the crunches in a decline position. Most of the declines are adjustable particularly those in the gyms and the degree of the decline also determines the degree of difficulty such that you have to adjust it yourself to determine which height you want to work with. In this routine, one may opt to do a sit up or a crunch but the crunch is more challenging. Then if you are not satisfied with just a crunch, add up some weight on your chest. Decline Crunch
Exercise Data for Decline CrunchType : Strength
Main Muscle Worked : Abdominals
Equipment : Body Only
Mechanics Type : Isolation
Level : Intermediate
Sport : No
Force : Pull
Decline Crunch Guide :
- Secure your legs at the end of the decline bench and lie down for an extreme secure practice of Decline Crunch.
- Now place your hands lightly on either side of your head keeping your elbows in. Tip: Don't lock your fingers behind your head.
- While pushing the small of your back down in the bench to better isolate your abdominal muscles, begin to roll your shoulders off it.
- Continue to push down as hard as you can with your lower back as you contract your abdominals and exhale. Your shoulders should come up off the bench only about four inches, and your lower back should remain on the bench. At the top of the movement, contract your abdominals hard and keep the contraction for a second. Tip: Focus on slow, controlled movement - don't cheat yourself by using momentum.
- After the one second contraction, begin to come down slowly again to the starting position as you inhale.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions of Decline Crunch.
Variations of Decline Crunch:
There are many variations for the crunch. You can perform the exercise with weights, or on top of an exercise ball or on a flat bench. Decline Crunch
