1> Weight crunches:

If you have weights to put on the bottoms of your feet, that's how you do these.

Type 1: Lie on your back, either holding a friend's ankles, or the legs of a table or chair. Do not hold tightly.

Lift up one leg while holding the other parallel(or almost) to the floor. When you lift it up bend it to your chest or stomach. Right, then left then right then left. Do it as fast as you can, and you should make bycicle-like motion when you do it. I do about 30.

Type 2: Keep the weights on your feet still: Keep legs level, unlike the last where you do one leg at a time. lift them up while holding a chair/table legs/ ankles. Not all the way up, but just about a foot in the air, then back down to touching your ankles slightly to the ground. Do not let them drop.

Both of these are for your lower abdominal.


2> crossovers:
bend your knees, the same way you do a standard crunch, lying on your back, and with your feet flat on the ground, but knees bent. Now Cross one leg over the other so your calf is lying on your other knee. Let's say you do your left leg first. Then you would do a sit up and touch your right elbow to your left knee.

Then switch.
I do about 15 on each side, and then after another rep of all the other types I do another rep of these; 15 again.

3> No name(that I know of): Lie Flat on your back. Now put both of your feet in the air, straight up. All you do is sit up, and try to touch the tops of your ankles with the tips of your fingers. I do this as many times as I can. This one is for the middle of your abs.

4> Lie on your side, reach your hand out straight, and flat on the ground, the back of that hand should be pressed flat to the floor. The other arm should be bent and with your hand placed on the back of your head: the way people do, when doing standard crunches. Your knees should be bent at a 45 degree angle and your feet need to be level with your butt.
Now do a sit up, but it's a sideways one. Lift your lower and upper body up, to try to touch your elbow to the sides of your knees.
Confusing. I'll try to find a picture today or tomorrow.

5> Bench sit up:

Lie flat on your back on a bench, or hang from a bar by your legs if you go to a gym there might be some sort of equipment like that.
If you use a bench, lower it as far as you can so that where your head lies, the bench is touching the ground. Almost like you're lying on a ramp and your feet are hanging over the top of the ramp.
Now sit up to raise your chin above your knees, or if you're on a bench, just sit up straight. When you're up as far as you can go, twist your whole upper body one way, or the other, and clench your abs.
I try to do as many of these as I can, since they're one of my favorites.


If you don't understand it, just say so, and I'll try to find some pictures.

Why so much spinal flexion with absolutely no emphasis on stabilization and anti-rotation, which happens to be the most important functions of the core muscles?

You want to learn a bit... read this thread:

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/weigh...-abs-11-a.html

I was going to say the same thing as Steve. Seems like a lot of isolation work and a lot of stress on your spine for not much benefit.

Don't get me wrong, I do crunches - some. I prefer reverse crunches because they work all the way up my abs. I also do back extensions (in fact Lyle McDonald just did a blog post on back extensions that made me rethink what I do .. Back Extension Technique | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald). But there's just no need to do THAT many "situps" or crunches. Not if you're doing other full body work that builds the core - front and back.

Also, over any of those, if you want to develop your core - planks. You could replace all of the above with planks and do just as well.

Although I didn't see the point of this post.
is it directed to six packs?
is it directed to building abdominal muscles?

its my understanding that there are more equipments which can help:

Medicine Ball
Gym Ball
Ankle Weights

Also not to forget the powerful core use in compound exercises like an overhead press.

number 4 is a "v-sit" in my knowledge.

The point is, there's a lot more to the "core" and training it than most people realize.

oh, i wasn't disputing that haha, i was just letting him know on his post that number 4 is called a v-sit. i agree with you steve, i don't keep my core exercises to only the "back and forward" type

agreed. Way to much isolation and emphasis on concentric core movements.

Duh brah... you gotta cut those abz with the toner exercimisizers.