The
Cable Crunch uses
the high pulley or lat pulldown machine to work
the abdominals. The focus of the exercise is
on the contraction of the abs, though some tension
can be obtained during the stretch position
at the top of the movement, depending on how
you position your body.
How To Do Cable Crunches:
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- Stand
or kneel in front of a high pulley
and grip a bar with an underhand grip
or use a rope.
- The
bar should be held to the back of
your head so your wrists are close
to your ears.
- Lean
over slightly with a bit of an arch
in your lower back.
- This
will hit a greater range of motion.
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- Crunch
your elbows downward, pivoting at
approximately the bottom of the ribcage,
not the waist.
- Your
waist should not move much (waist
movement indicates hip flexor involvement).
- Squeeze
hard then rise up until your back
is arched again.
- Imagine
you have someone putting a forearm
across the small of your back and
you must wrap yourself around it.
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Tricks
for Performing Cable Crunches:
1.
Tighter squeeze
To
get a tighter squeeze, crunch down until your
head is almost between your legs. This is best
done kneeling on the end of a flat bench placed
in front of the pulley. Crunch down and in towards
the bench until your head is below the level
of the bench.
2.
Suck in your gut
Suck in your gut before and during the crunch
to target the extreme upper abs. The sucking
in of the gut decreases the leverage of the
rest of the rectus abdominus. To target the
obliques, you can come across to each side while
keeping your gut sucked in.
3.
Hitting the obliques
Another
way to hit the obliques is to face the stack
but crunch down on one side at a time, i.e.
pull more on the left side of the bar and crunch
over to the left slightly.
-
This is a very subtle movement that requires
and will develop excellent muscle control.
- Suck
in your gut so that the rectus abdominus
has poor leverage and the obliques do most
of the work (you don't need to suck in your
gut if you have sufficient muscle control
to relax your middle abs while doing side
crunches - the gut sucking will help develop
this mind-muscle connection).
- Squeeze
hard then do the other side.
Common
Errors in the Cable Crunch Exercise:
1.
Going too fast
Pumping
the weight up and down will not create tension
in the abs and can lead to injury when you reverse
direction at the top of the movement. The lower
back will take the brunt of that stress.
2.
Using too much or too little weight
Use
too little weight and you won't get anything
out of it; you may even fall over. Use too much
weight and you will have to use momentum to
get the weight moving and will be straining
your lower back rather than working your abs.
3.
Not holding the contraction
The
best part of this exercise is the contraction.
Squeeze as much as you can out of the contraction
at the bottom.
4.
Bending at the hips not at the upper abs
Bending
at the hips will work your hip flexors. Strive
to bend at the upper abdomen in order to work
the abs.
