So what might be wrong with crunches then? Are they not the first thing that comes to mind when we think of abdominal strengthening? I am sure you have even been taught to do them at school.
What happens in crunches and sit-ups?
- The head is pulled forward
- The back and the chest are rounding
- The low back is flat
- The front ribs are pulled down
- The shoulders are pulled in
- With many repetitions, the front body is going to get short.
Why is that a problem?
One of the very common western sitting (and sometimes standing) position is slumping, which when you think of it looks pretty much like a crunch. When we are slumping our spine is again flexed. The head is forward and the front body is in a shortened position.
We sit like this for hours a day and then some of us go to bed in a similar fetal position. So this is negatively affecting our posture. The head forward position can contribute to neck pain and headaches, as well as jaw misalignments and jaw problems. The shortness in our front body is pulling the shoulders down, compressing the lungs, impairing our breathing. Also, it is changing the natural shape of our spine which can contribute to back pain, arthritis, changes in the intervertebral discs.
Then after so many hours of sitting slumped, we go to the gym and do some crunches which as you can see now add more of the same and only exacerbate all those issues we might already have.
How do we strengthen the abdominal muscles then?
If you are sitting all day and feeling and seeing the effects of that on your body, the best way to strengthen the abdominals is to work them while lengthening the torso, the chest and the back. Opening the body in the opposite direction of crunching is very important to counterbalance our sedentary habits. That way we will have better posture, our breathing will improve and we can have significantly less back and neck pain and headaches.
There are many ways in yoga to achieve the goal of bringing strength and stability to our core through breathing and yoga poses. There are options for all ages and fitness levels, beginner or advanced.
If that sounds like something you would like to explore, I will be happy to help. You can join in one of my yoga online classes or get in touch to book a 1-2-1 yoga session.
There are much smarter movements than crunches to achieve your goals!
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Photo by Jonathan Borba from Pexels
