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Training Tips - March 2009

Exercise: Fitball Crunch
Primary Muscle: Abdominals
Skill Level: Beginner/Intermediate

Remember to always warm up before any exercise. Warming up reduces the risk of injury and gets muscles ready to do a Fitball Crunch. You can actually lift/push/pull/etc more if you go through a proper warm up routine, compared to diving straight into the exercises. Make sure to stretch your core muscles (abdominals, obliques, erector spinae) - key muscles in Fitball Crunches.

1. From a seated position on the ball, walk the feet forwards slowly and lean backwards so that the ball slides slightly forward while your feet remain flat and no wider than hip-width apart. Tighten the abdominals as you control the rollout to enable a safe transition from the seated to lying position. You can extend this horizontal position to a point that is comfortable for you without putting your lower back under any discomfort.
   
   
2. Place your hands across your chest or alternatively on your temples (Fig.1) Relax the shoulders and keep the head and neck as still as possible when you do the exercise, brace the abdominal muscles ready for the exercise movement. (Fig 1)
   
   
3. At the start of the move concentrate all your effort into the abdominals. Slowly lift the shoulder blades up off the ball. Only crunch up to a 45 degree angle while keeping the lower back firmly in place on the ball, you should now be in the position shown in (Fig 2)
   
   
4. Returning to the starting horizontal position should be in a smooth controlled movement; this will enable the abs to work in the ‘negative’ phase to get the maximum benfit from the exercise. If you are in the correct position you should feel a "burn" in the abs, this should tell you that your working them effectively.

Exercise: Fitball Dumbbell Crunch (Fig 3)
Primary Muscle: Abdominals
Skill Level: Advanced

1. Place yourself in the Fitball Crunch position. Take a 3-5kg Dumbbell and place it on your chest with crossed arms. Lift the elbows up and begin the crunch concentrating 100% on the abdominals, returning to the starting position as you would a normal crunch.(Fig 3)