A good sculpted lean and fit body is everyone’s dream. Having said that, rounds and rounds of cardio isn’t just enough to get there. Doing crunches with a personal trainer is also equally important to sculpt those problem muscles into shape.
Crunches are exercises that strengthen the muscles of the midsection and lower region of the body, called rectus abdominus or more commonly known as abs. Since it is known as the core of the body, strengthening abs is very important for overall conditioning of the body. If you dream of a flab less stomach or a six pack abs and running miles and miles for it, you have to consider starting on crunches with proper supervision from a personal trainer.
During crunch exercise, the position of the arms, back, knees and thighs are very important. A personal trainer can supervise the crunch exercise correcting the position and ensuring that it is done in the precise way. To start with any crunch exercise, you must lie flat on the back and bend the knees at 90 degrees to place your feet flat against the floor. The arms must be resting behind your head together. You will need your trainer to ensure that your feet are placed at a gap as wide as your hips.
Since safety is most important, your personal trainer must make sure that you don’t strain your neck and back throughout the exercise. Should you feel the slightest pain or discomfort, report immediately to your trainer and stop your exercise. Start again only if the pain eases, ensuring correct positions. Usually, repetitive sets of 10 to 15 crunches each, is done with breaks in between to relax your muscles, but your trainer will know exactly how much of it you can handle. It is not advisable to overdo the crunches, as it is not the right way to work your muscles.
There are two groups of muscles – Abdominal muscle groups and hip flexor muscles. The initial phase of the crunch exercise will make use of the abdominal muscles and the later part will work on your hip flexor muscle. Brisk sit ups will not be of great help in toning your abs. Instead, with the aid of your personal trainer raise your upper body slowly half way through to feel the strain in your abdominal region.
Crunches are an advanced form of exercise. To obtain full benefit of the crunches without the dangers of injury, you will need your trainer next to you while performing them. Right amounts of pressure and strain must be put to right muscles in order to tone them. There are different variants of normal crunches like Bicycle Crunches, Superman Crunches, Thai crunches, Twisting Crunches, Cable Crunches and so on, to target different regions of lower body and abdomen. A personal trainer can suggest and guide you through the ones suitable for your problem areas.
Breathing the right way also plays an important role while you are working out. Ensure that you get your directions about proper breathing techniques from your personal trainer before starting on the crunches. Exhaling through mouth while concentrating on the abdominal muscles when sitting up and inhaling while lying back to position, is the correct way of breathing technique used.
For beginners, Crunches can be a bit challenging to keep up with and they require a lot of motivation and patience. Any form of exercise will not show immediate results and spot reduction and the same holds good for crunches. Especially in the initial stages, your personal trainer can be of great help in always keeping you motivated and leading you through these difficult set of exercise for wonderful abs.
Dan Clay is a local Personal Trainer and boot camp expert. If you would like to hire a personal trainer Bondi [http://bootcampsydney.com.au/personal-trainer-bondi.html] consultation visit Sydney personal trainer [http://personaltrainersydney.net.au/2010/04/hiring-the-right-personal-trainer/].
