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The Elbow to Knee Crunch is a Good Ab Exercise but May Not Be For Beginners
In my experience this is not just a good ab exercise, it is one of the best. This is an advanced abdominal oblique exercise that requires sufficient abdominal strength to hold your head and shoulders off of the floor without straining the neck or low back.Do not perform if you have low back problems or problems with your neck. You may be able to work up to this good ab exercise by developing sufficient abdominal and back strength through basic beginner abdominal exercises. Elbow to Knee CrunchLie on your back and bring your knees up toward your chest. Place your hands behind your head with your elbows extended out and lift your head and shoulders off of the mat. Do not pull on your neck, you should be lifting with your abdominals. Now extend one leg out as you twist your body so that your elbow comes toward the opposite bent knee. At first you may not be able to actually touch the elbow to the knee, that’s okay just reach toward it. You will naturally progress towards the knee as you gradually increase your abdominal strength. Keep your shoulders off the floor. Focus your eyes toward the low elbow and do not allow the elbows to fold in toward each other. Now inhale as you twist in the opposite direction pulling the extended leg in towards you while simultaneously extending the other leg. Keep the extended leg 6 to 10 inches off the floor. Be sure to stretch the leg out long and with control. Keep the abdominals contracted and your low back pressed into the mat. Exhale completely to complete the repetition. When you have finished, hug both of your knees into your chest and hold for thirty seconds or more to stretch out your back.
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