Making the Cut (38 page)

Performance Description:
Take a deep breath, and then exhale while curling up and forward until your shoulder blades are off the floor. Hold for a moment at the top of the movement, fully exhale all the air in your lungs for complete contraction of the abs, and then slowly lower back down to the floor. If you can’t stop pulling on your neck, cross your arms across your chest instead. Keep your tongue pressed onto the roof of your mouth to help alleviate straining the back of your neck.

Tips:
Pick a spot on the ceiling and keep your eyes focused on it to avoid pulling on your neck, and do not bring your elbows in or forward. When crunching, do not push your stomach out. Instead, pull your belly button inward toward your spine. Try to imagine you’re lifting your chin up toward the ceiling rather than forward toward your knees.

[variations]

Ball Crunch

Sit on a body ball with your feet placed flat on the floor about a hip-width apart. All the Basic Crunch tips apply here: put your hands behind your head so your thumbs are behind your ears, elbows out, eyes and chin up. Slowly pull your abs inward as you lean back on the ball so that your entire back, from tailbone to shoulders, is resting on the ball. Then exhale as you curl up and forward until your shoulder blades come off the ball. Hold the midpoint position for a beat, and then inhale, lowering slowly back down on to the ball. For a real challenge, try performing the same exercise with one foot elevated several inches off the floor. Your hip stabilizers and abdominals will have to work much harder to keep you balanced throughout the movement. The Ball Crunch is a much more intense crunch because it allows for a fuller range of motion while performing the exercise and develops core stability to help you balance on the ball.

Bicycle Crunch

Lie on your back, knees bent, belly button drawn in tight toward your spine, and the small of your back pressed against the floor. Rest your hands behind your head with your thumbs behind your ears. Exhale as you extend your right leg out straight. Simultaneously lift your shoulders off the floor, keeping your elbows open, and bring your right armpit and left knee toward each other. Inhale, then exhale, as you repeat the exercise using the opposite arm and leg. Keep the movement slow and controlled. This variation of the Basic Crunch targets your rectus abdominis as well as your inner and outer obliques.

Pike Crunch

From a kneeling position, place your abdomen on a body ball and roll the body along the ball until your ankles rest on the top of the ball. Your shoulders should be aligned directly over your hands. Contracting your abdominal muscles, exhale and pull the ball forward using your legs. As your glutes rise, keep your upper body stable so that your shoulders stay aligned with your hands. In the finished position, your toes should be resting on the ball. Return to the starting position. Repeat.

Reverse Crunch

Lie on your back, feet off the floor, knees bent, and ankles crossed. Bring the tops of your quads inward and onto your stomach so you don’t swing your legs to gain momentum during the movement. This also helps you isolate your lower abs during the crunch instead of engaging the hip flexors. Relax your head, neck, and shoulders, and rest them on the floor. Now, lift your pelvis off the floor and curl it toward your rib cage. Make sure to fully exhale while you’re crunching in order to maximize the contraction. If you really want a challenge, hold your arms out at your sides and several inches off the floor. This helps to further isolate your abs by prohibiting your arms from assisting in the crunch. The Reverse Crunch specifically targets the lower abs and transverse abs.

Toe Touch Crunch

Assume the starting position for a Basic Crunch, then lift your legs off the floor and hold them up toward the ceiling. Perform a Basic Crunch in this position. The Toe Touch Crunch engages the lower abs and hip flexors as well as the upper abs.

Dead Lift

Muscles Targeted:
glutes, hamstrings, lower back

Starting Position:
Stand with your feet slightly narrower than a shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent or “soft.” Hold a barbell in both hands or a dumbbell in each, your palms facing your legs in front of your body, about a shoulder-width apart. Keep your back straight and your shoulders pulled back.

Performance Description:
Allow your torso to slowly bend forward, and the bar to lower toward the floor. Keep your knees slightly bent and your back flat throughout the entire movement. Lower the bar until your torso is almost parallel to the ground. From this position, focus on your hamstrings, and exhale while slowly lifting your body and the weights back into starting position. Repeat.

Tips:
Keep your eyes focused forward in order to keep your back in the appropriate position. Don’t round your shoulders or bend your knees. Be careful not to use too much weight. If you do this incorrectly, you can injure your lower back.

Dip

Muscles Targeted:
triceps, front head of shoulder, chest

Starting Position:
You can perform Dips by grasping two parallel bars that are approximately a shoulder-width apart. Position yourself on them with your hands grasping the bars at your sides, knees bent and legs crossed.

Performance Description:
While keeping your elbows close to your body and your hips straight, inhale and lower yourself until your arms are at a 90-degree angle with your biceps parallel to the ground. While keeping your body leaning forward at all times, exhale and push yourself up to the starting position and repeat.

Tips:
Be careful not to lower your body too far, or you will overstress your shoulders. Do not lean forward or away from the bench, which also creates stress on your shoulders.

Dumbbell Fly

Muscles Targeted:
chest, shoulders

Starting Position:
Lie on your back on a workout bench with your feet up on the bench. (You can also perform this exercise lying on a Swiss ball, with your feet placed firmly on the floor.) Hold the dumbbells over your chest, with your arms extended toward the ceiling and both palms facing each other.

Performance Description:
Inhale, open your arms and chest, and slowly lower the weights in a semicircle out to the sides of your chest. Do not let your arms lower farther than parallel to the floor, or you risk straining your bicep tendon. Now, exhale and raise the weights, again in an arc, back up to the starting position. Repeat.

Tips:
Be sure to maintain a slight bend in your elbows throughout the entire exercise to keep the tension on your chest instead of your joints. Do not allow more than a slight bend in your elbow, or the move will become more a press than a fly.

[variations]

Dumbbell Fly on Body Ball with Crunch

Lie with your head, neck, and shoulders on a body ball. Both feet should be planted firmly on the ground, with your legs at a 90-degree angle, knees positioned over the ankles. Bridge your torso so it’s parallel to the floor. Raise the dumbbells over your chest with your arms extended toward the ceiling, both palms facing each other. Inhale, open your arms and chest, and slowly lower the weights in a semicircle arc out to the sides of your chest. Do not let your arms lower farther than parallel to the floor, or you risk straining your bicep tendon. Now, exhale and raise the weight, again in an arc, back up to starting position, and perform a crunch with the weights above your chest. Lower your body back into starting position. Repeat. This version of the Dumbbell Fly allows you to target your core as well as your chest.