So my oldest daughter gave the incline crunch a try, but she had some problems…
“Dad, I’m not feeling my abs working? What am I doing wrong?”
“From the video you sent me, I see a few things. First, your tempo is too fast. Try lowering in two seconds, raising in two seconds. It will seem very slow because the stroke on the exercise is short. Also, I’ve been experimenting with a pause at the stretch for a count. So five seconds per rep.”
“Okay. I’ll have to concentrate. Anything else?”
“Yes, unfortunately, the bench you have comes all the way up to the back of your neck. That doesn’t allow you to go back at all for a mild ab stretch. You can either stand on a riser to get higher or try a rolled up towel behind your lower back.”
“Good idea. I’ll see if I can come up with something to stand on. If not, the towel idea is a good solution.”
“One other thing: Try a lower incline. You still want tension on your abs at the top, just less than at the stretch. You can experiment with different heights, but about 45 degrees should do it.”
“Sounds good. So I should ditch the leg raises?”
“Well, you can use them as an add-on exercise, if you like. I do what I call knee-ups sometimes. The function of the frontal ab muscle is to either pull your torso toward your hips or your hips toward your torso. The hip curl is important. You’ll still be involving hip flexors, however.”
“I really need ab work after the baby, so I’ll probably do those.”
“I’ve been putting a riser under the head end of the bench so I have a bit more resistance at the top hip-curl position. But try it flat first. Curling the hips up can be difficult if you’re not used to it. Oh, I’ll often use flat crunches as an add-on too, just so I train the weak contracted position after I’ve exhausted the stronger stretch area of the stroke with the incline version.”
“So maybe two sets of inclines and one set each for flat crunch and knee-ups?”
“Yes. And you know my thoughts on short rests—no more than 20 seconds between sets.”
“I know. That hurts.”
“No pain, no gain—but maybe I shouldn’t be talking about gain to a lady who just gave birth.”
“It’s fine. I’m trying to gain a little muscle, which will help me lose more fat.”
“Ah ha, you do listen to me once in a while.”
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Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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