15 Ways to Crunch for Fab Abs

Crunches are a key part of any ab routine, but it’s always good to expand beyond the basic crunch variations to get the most out of your fab ab routine! Pairing these ways to crunch for fab abs with other ab exercises is a winning combination for looking great and building core strength. So, check out this 5-minute ab workout or this barre ab burner for a balanced routine that engages your core and activates multiple muscle groups.

For this post, I’m going to focus on different ways to crunch, which was inspired by some of my favourite ab workouts. One that inspires me is the TurboFire workout: a 25-minute HIIT and 10-minute Abs DVD, which really fires up my abdominal muscles.

15 Ways to Crunch for Fab Abs

Whenever I do that DVD workout, I’m SORE, but it’s so worth it. My abs are naturally a little weaker from pregnancy, so it feels nice to give them a good workout. I love the combo of moves Chalene put together, but am kind of bummed with the lack of lower leg lifts and planks (which are much more functional than crunches). We do a lot of crunches and it helps me to remember some of my old forgotten favorites.

Here are 15 different types of crunches if you’d like to add a little zing to your abs routine:

Different Ways To Do Crunches​

*As always, make sure you check with a doc before making any fitness changes.

1) Standard Crunch

For beginners, begin in the starting position with your back flat on the ground and cross your arms on your chest. Level 2 will bring their elbows out to the sides, and level 3 will have arms straight, glued next to their ears, and may even hold a light dumbbell. Do a big exhale as you lift your upper body, bringing your shoulder blades off the floor and drawing your belly button in towards your spine. Don’t depend on momentum. You want to really keep it slow and controlled with proper form.

2) Bicycle Crunch

Remember to keep your elbows out, in line with your ears, and lead with your shoulder, not your elbow. This better engages your core and targets the obliques.

3) Reverse Crunch

For this one, you can have your hands behind your head (more challenging) or under your lower back. Bring your legs up and try to lift your hips to press your toes towards the ceiling. Maintain control throughout to activate your core muscles properly.

4) Double Crunch

As your shoulders rise off the floor, your hips also come up, drawing knees in closer to your chest. Focus on squeezing your abdominal muscles at the top of the crunch, then return to the starting position.

5) Frog Crunch

Exhale as you try to meet knees to elbows (keeping your elbows in line with your ears), lower down, and straighten your legs out to a hover. Keep your lower back flat on the floor to protect your spine and maximize your core activation.

6) Side-to-Side Crunch

Come up into a regular crunch, and engaging your obliques, bring your torso towards the side and “chop” with your hand at your ankle. Back to center, then to the opposite side.

7) Circle Obliques

Put your hands in fists with your thumbs pointed toward you. As you crunch up and exhale, bring your right shoulder off the ground toward your left knee and begin to make a circular pattern with your torso. Complete the “body circle” by lifting your upper body, bringing your left shoulder off the ground as you continue to crunch your abs. Complete all of your reps on one side before switching to the other.

8) Pullover Crunch

Begin in the starting position with your legs in a hover position. As you exhale, bring your legs up, lift your upper body, and extend your arms out parallel to the floor. Squeeze your abdominal muscles throughout to really engage your muscle groups.

9) Roll-Up

Bring your arms at chest level, straight in front of you, as you engage you abs, exhale and slowly roll up into the pictured position. Roll back slowly to your back with arms in front, then lower back to your ears.

10) Crunch and Hover

Shoulders come up as knees come in, lower shoulders down as you extend legs to a hover.

11) Standing Crunch

This crunch is peeeerfect for low-impact workouts. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Bring one knee up while pulling your opposite elbow down across your body as if doing a diagonal crunch. Alternate sides to work your obliques and improve core strength while standing up.

12) Vertical Leg Crunch

Lie on your back with legs extended straight up toward the ceiling. Place your hands behind your head and perform a crunch by lifting your upper body toward your feet. This keeps tension on the abdominal muscles throughout, resulting in sore (but strong) abs.

13) Weighted Crunch

Hold a dumbbell or weight plate across your chest or behind your head, whichever you prefer. Perform a standard crunch, but focus on engaging your core with the added resistance to increase the difficulty.

14) Stability Ball Crunch

Sit on a stability ball and walk your feet forward until your lower back is supported. Perform crunches while maintaining balance on the ball. This forces your core muscles to work harder for stability, leading to a great workout.

15) Seated Crunch (Bench or Chair)

Sit at the edge of a bench or chair, lean back slightly, and hold onto the sides. Bring your knees in toward your chest and crunch forward, then extend your legs back out. This is a totally awesome crunch exercise for at-home or gym variations.

Challenge Yourself with Crunches

-Play with tempo: up fast, down slow; up slow, down fast; up for 2 counts, down for 2; pulsing at the middle portion of the movement; etc

-Focus on your breath. As you engage your abs to crunch up, exhale, and bring your belly button towards your spine

-Think about contracting your abs while exercising and even during everyday activities

Get fab abs with the help of these great crunch exercises!

Remember, the best way to get awesome abs is with a consistent cardio routine (varying intensities) and clean eating. You really use your abs all day (picking up things from the floor, putting dishes away, bending over, holding your body upright and stable), so there’s no real need to go crazy with an ab routine if you’re doing your cardio and eating well. When I first got into fitness, I did abs almost every day for at least a half hour because I wanted a six pack. It doesn’t really work that way.

How often, if at all, do you work out your abs? Remember to work your entire core, especially your lower back, for more effective training.

For more ab ideas, check out the ab burners on the fitness page– quick and fiery- and this reader’s request about fab abs.

Have a great day, friends <3

xoxo

Gina