The sit-up or more specifically, the ‘crunch’ has been an exercise staple for decades. Proponents of the crunch touted it as the ideal exercise for building six-pack abdominals and ridding the stomach of excess fat. Since as far back as the 1940s fitness ‘gurus’ in gyms, on television and in magazines suggested that the crunch offered a fast track to a lean, well-defined mid-section.
And for nearly as long, the real fitness experts have been saying “No, no no….the crunch does none of those things and is in fact, a horrible exercise that increases the risk of injury—particularly the back.” Let’s take a look and see which viewpoint is correct.
We’ll start by taking a look at the crunch movement to get a better perspective. There are a nearly endless variety of ways to perform the crunch but among all of them, the basic movements are essentially the same. The movement begins by lying face up on the floor with knees bent. Next, curl the shoulders towards the pelvis with the lower back remaining on the floor. The movement is repeated anywhere from 20 to a hundred times or more. The hands can be behind or beside the neck or crossed over the chest.
Crunches can be more difficult by: placing the feet up on a bench with the back on the floor; performing the movement on an exercise ball; performing the movement on a decline bench; twisting the torso during the up movement; or even by placing a weight plate, kettle bell or dumbbell on the chest to make the up movement more difficult.
But while in theory the crunch is perceived to be a simple, relatively safe exercise, this is not necessarily the reality.
