HELP....!!!!!!!! unable to do a crunch?

Question

Hey please suggest some alternate way of doing a stomach crunch apart from the one with hands behind head or crossed across the chest... i find it difficult to lift the upper torso. If i take support with my elbows to lift the upper part would it qualify as a crunch????...

Answer 1

One thing you might be able to do is suspend yourself somehow so that your feet don't touch the ground. Then try to raise you knees to your chest or kick your feet as high up and as far in front of you as possible.

Answer 2

why dont you try by strengthening your abdominals isometrically. Lay down on a padded mat on your back, and tilt your pelvis upwards toward your head. This action will contract your rectus abdominus and you can hold this contraction for 10 seconds. This is what you would call a posterior pelvic tilt. Do 8-12 of these, 3X per day,and see how you feel. Once you get the hang of this, you can increase your reps, then you can progress to a crunch when you gain some strength in you abdominals, and rotate your upper torso, incorporating your deeper abdominal muscles that run diagonally. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

All you need to do is curl upwards to from the middle of your back upwards is off the ground - your lower back should stay on the ground.
I find it easier if I interlock my fingers behind my neck but it really doesn't matter what you do with your hands as long as you don't try to lift your head more than your back goes cos you can strain your neck.
But don't stress if you're not strong enough to get high off the ground for starters. The important thing is that you're working your stomach muscles which you can do just by tensing them. Then as they get stronger you can do it for longer & you'll get strong enough to do a full stomach crunch :)