About crunches?

Question

Just curious if im doing them right, I feel a tiny bit of strain in my shoulders after doing them, is this correct or?

Also is it ok to put a pillow under my head and mabey just a little down my back to support myself on a hard mat?

Also(lol) am I suppose to pull my stomach in as much as I can when I pull myself up?

Answer 1

You don't give enough information for me to judge is you are doing it correctly but here is a description on the correct way to do a crunch.

Lie on your back with your knees bent , your feet hip bone width apart, and your arms by your sides. Pay attention to your breathing and to the muscles in your torso. The abdominal muscles are not just in front, they actually wrap around your torso from your spine to the front, around your ribs, waist, & pelvis, forming the round sides of a cylinder.

Feel your ribs move to the front, side, and back as you breathe--the abdominals are helping to move your ribs! Now pay attention to your pelvis. Make sure that you are not pushing your lower back into the floor; your pubic bones should be in the same horizontal line as your hip bones--you may have an arch in your lower back and that's OK, you are supposed to!

Now as you inhale let you ribcage, stomach, and pelvis relax. As you exhale contract your pelvic floor (the bottom of the cylinder) as though you had to stop peeing, feel your abs wrap tighter around your ribs and waist like a corset, and feel your diaphragm under your ribcage pull up and under the ribs (the top of the cylinder). Do this conscious breathing a few times. Put your hands on your belly and notice that now it pulls in (it may feel soft, but you are going for width and depth, not for tightness!).

Then add a curl up of your upper body on the exhale. Nod your head and then pretend you are holding a large egg or small orange under your chin (in other words keep space between chin & chest); then let you ribs drop in and down as you curl up towards your pelvis (do not pull forward from your head at this point--use the ribs). Stay there for a moment and consciously breathe as above, making sure that you have not tucked your hip bones back to the floor--get your pubic bones back down towards the mat and see if you can get as deep and wide in your belly as when your head was down.

Answer 2

You should not be feeling a strain in your neck or shoulders. But when you are doing them think of pushing your belly toward your spine, so your lower back is on the mat. Do not tightly interlace you fingers and keep you shoulders flat. Try doing bicycles too it is more effective.

Answer 3

I think MG answered your question very well. I do have something to add though. You must mix your crunches with exercises for the lower back as well. Never work exclusively on abdominals.