Today I have two tweaks on some classic abs exercises from Coach Wilson.
If you have Fix My Shoulder Pain, you know I am a huge fan of vertical hanging for shoulder health, but Coach Chris shows you how to hit the abs while doing it.
Okay, take it away, Chris.
~ Rick Kaselj
Why Reverse Crunches Good For Your Classic Abs Exercises?
When most people think about their abdominal muscles, they think about the rectus abdominis. And for a good reason—it’s the longest muscle in the body, reaching from the base of your ribs down to your pelvis. It flexes the torso, bringing your spine closer to your trunk.
How to Make the Abs Exercises Even Safer
Adding a stability ball to the mix can make the reverse crunch even safer. First, place a ball between a wall and your back. Then, perform a reverse crunch as described above. This will increase the stability of the exercise. You can also use a wall-mounted bar to perform reverse crunches. Place a bar against a wall, walk toward it until your back is against it, and lift your legs until they’re bent at a 90-degree angle. Perform the exercise as described above. Finally, reverse crunches can also be performed on the floor. Lie on your back with your hands extended in front of your face. Contract your abdominal muscles, lifting your head and chest off the floor.
Hello there, welcome back. Coach Chris, Team Critical Bench, I am at the gym with Ashley.
She’s going to show us some alternatives to doing your typical Hanging Leg Raise, which is one of my favorite exercises that you can do for your Classic Abs Exercises.
You can do the exercise hanging from a bar, with straps wrapped under your elbows, or in a Roman Chair machine.
I would recommend hanging from the bars as I am a huge advocate of holding your body weight, and you get an arm workout and a back workout without even thinking about it.
1. Single Leg Raise from the Hanging Position
In the video exercise, Ashley shows us performing the Single Leg Raise from the hanging position. I will continue to go over some other things that you can do.
In this classic abs exercise, you should have a good strong position. Your rhomboids are tight, squeezing your shoulder blades together to hold you up with a really good form as you raise one leg straight to about hip height.
You can see in the video that Ashley hangs perfectly still, controlling the up and downward movements.
The tempo is the key here. You could go fast with the movement, but your body would start to sway all over the place. In this case, this is not what we want.
We want to work the abs intensely.
You hang perfectly still, slowly raising your leg. Remember that down leg. You can tell that it just hangs perfectly still.
Now, is this too hard or too difficult for you? If you are a beginner, you can give the next exercise a go.
We are going to go ahead and do a Knee Tuck.
2. Knee Tuck
Again hanging, pulling both knees up, and focusing on slowing down.
Raise the knees together and be a little more compact. Instead of having that straight leg coming way out in front, which can be too challenging for some people. Nevertheless, this can give your abs an excellent workout, but they will still be strenuous.
Give that one a try. If you are doing other things for your abs and not seeing results, probably because you are not doing some of the proper movements. Trust me. Incorporate some of these in your workouts. You will see the difference.
Most people think the only way to work out your abs is to do sit-ups at home, pullups, and leg raises. The exercises mentioned above will provide you with an intense ab workout. The best thing is that this is absolutely an easy way.
If you are looking for 30 other exercises that target the abs, check out Crunchless Abs:
Coach Chris
