Poorva Chavan
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Written By: Poorva Chavan | Published : February 3, 2016 3:54 PM IST
It is believed that crunches help you lose belly fat and get a toned abdomen. But there many mistakes people make while performing crunches which prevents them from toning their abs. One important thing to remember is that crunches won't help you lose belly fat, it will only strengthen the muscles. So if you want a toned abdomen, focus on reducing the body fat percentage along with doing crunches. Abhishek Chatterjee, Assistant Fitness Manager, Fitness First, Mumbai, tells what could go wrong while performing crunches and what you can do about it.
1. Doing only crunches--If you aim to build six pack abs or want a toned abdomen, you have to include other exercises too. Crunches target only one muscle group in our core and only from one angle. Along with crunches, you should perform other exercises like reverse crunches, bicycle crunches, planks, superman planks, cross crunches that target other muscles in the core. You may like to read about--5 types of crunches for a flat belly.
2. Doing crunches every day-- As crunches target only one muscle group, you should focus on targeting different muscles of the core every day. Shuffle your routine and do exercises like leg raises, planks, Russian twists and side planks. Here's how to perform bicycle crunches.
3. Form--An incorrect form can interfere with the outcome. Remember performing crunches involves flexing the trunk and not the neck. Hence, make sure you lift your torso off the ground and not just your neck. Also, rest your hands behind your neck for support but don't use the hands to pull yourself up or you might end up spraining your neck. If you want a flat belly and rock-hard abs practise cross-body ab crunch. Another important thing to remember is the eye movement. Make sure you look straight up when you are lying down, and your eyes are in sync with the movement of the body as you come up.
4. Speed--Doing crunches fast will tone your abs quickly is a very common myth. It is best you follow the 1:2 rule which means you should come up with the count of one and go down at the count of two. Also, the counting should not be too quick nor too slow. You should be able to breathe in between at moderate speed. Also, your movements should be controlled and not jerky.
5. Breathing pattern--We often tend to hold our breath while exercising. Your muscles need oxygen to function, and when you don't breathe, your muscles tend to suffer from lactate fatigue which makes you sore and increases your possibility of suffering from cramps. Hence, you should exhale while you come up and inhale while you lie down.
Image source: Shutterstock
