Incline press. Reverse crunches on an incline bench. Rules for performing exercises

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Genus. 1984 Trained since 1999 Trained since 2007. Candidate of Masters in powerlifting. Champion of Russia and South Russia according to AWPC. Champion of the Krasnodar region according to IPF. 1st category weightlifting. 2-time winner of the Krasnodar Territory championship in t/a. Author of more than 700 articles on fitness and amateur athletics. Author and co-author of 5 books.

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Date of: 2012-05-29 Views: 2 480 831 Grade: 4.9

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Core muscles -
Additional- iliopsoas
Difficulty of execution- average

Crunches on an inclined bench - video

Weight and reps for beginners

For men: 10 - 15 repetitions without weight. 2 - 3 approaches.
For women: 10 - 15 repetitions without weight. 2 - 3 approaches.

Load by muscle group

The load is indicated on a 10-point scale (the total load is summed up)

Restrictions for injuries/illness/pain

The degree of risk is indicated on a 10-point scale

Description of the exercise

Twisting on incline bench, this is a basic exercise for training the abs. It allows for many variations, varying in their impact and severity. This exercise is suitable both for the beginning of any workout (as a warm-up) and for the end.

Main features

1. The higher the inclination of the bench, the harder it is to do this exercise (all other things being equal). 2. Your task is to twist as much as possible (hunch your back) so that your abs work. If you rise with a straight back, it will not be the abs that will work, but the iliopsoas muscle. 3. You can either lower yourself completely onto the bench (while stretching your abs) or not lower yourself all the way. In the second case, the amplitude will be smaller. However, the abs will pound faster and harder. 4. You can use a barbell disc as a weight. You can place it either on your chest (easier option) or behind your head (more complicated option). 5. If you want the iliopsoas muscle to be disabled and only the abs to work, then do not lift your lower back off the bench at all. Just twist your back in the thoracic region. Although I don't see anything wrong with using extraneous muscles in this exercise. 6. If you still find it difficult to do this exercise, then cross your arms over your chest. Or grab the edges of the bench with your hands. It's easier.

No! Could it be a barbell press? Also no! In fact, the most important exercise for any athlete is the incline crunch! Why? Everything is very simple. During almost all exercises, the abdominal muscles and core are the only stabilizers that support the spine in its normal position.

There are, of course, more psoas muscles, but they are quite strong on their own. But the abs remain a lagging muscle group for many athletes. That is why it is important to pay a lot of attention to its development. Here again is the dilemma. Everyone knows that the most effective thing is to work out the lower part of the abs. And this is again a mistake. Because the abs is the only muscle that is simply divided by three tendons. And of all the exercises, the most effective are crunches on an incline bench.

Possible harm and contraindications

Let's start with the dubious one. Many people in the gym refuse to pump up their abs under various pretexts. But do they have any real reason to skip crunches on an incline gymnastic bench?

Yes, in fact, there are a number of contraindications in which twisting can cause significant harm to the body:

• Presence of a spinal hernia. Many professional lifters have herniated discs. Even Ronnie Coleman, because of his love for a specific squat, earned it, which did not stop him from performing. But pumping up the press using classical methods was a hindrance. This was reflected in his figure, not without reason, in last years– Mr. Olympia, was an ardent representative of “pot-bellied bodybuilders.”
• Lagging lower back muscles. This is a rather rare case, but some athletes are very keen on developing six packs. Due to this fact, an imbalance occurs between the muscles that support the body in a straight position. This contraindication is eliminated by a course of intense hyperextension (about a month of training).
• Possibility of postoperative injury. We are again talking about the muscles of the spine and the muscles of the abdominal cavity. You can’t pump your abs for some time after cutting out a hernia or appendicitis.
• Presence of acute peptic ulcer. Yes, of course, many will immediately say that if you have an ulcer, you absolutely cannot play sports. But despite this, it seems that an activity such as incline crunches cannot harm the athlete. But this is precisely what is most dangerous during the treatment period.
• The presence of benign neoplasms in the abdominal area. When performing crunches, a strong pumping of the abdominal cavity occurs, due to which neoplasms can turn from benign to malignant.

The list of precautions and contraindications for pumping up the abdominal muscles is, of course, very long. But on the other hand, it’s worth thinking about. What is the probability of having one of these factors? And there is even less chance that a person with such problems will even go to the gym until complete recovery.

Execution technique

The technique of doing crunches on an incline bench is extremely simple. But first you need to decide on some nuances.

In particular, this is the choice of that very bench. Many gyms have two main apparatuses. This:

• Actually a bench.
• Roman chair.

The Roman chair will give a greater workout to the abdominal muscles, but it requires a more precise technique. At the same time, an inclined bench can be either with or without an adjustable angle. Before approaching the projectile, you need to set the correct angle. Usually this is 30 degrees (2nd pin on the bench itself), but many “pseudo professionals” set it at 60-70 degrees. This does not increase the load on the abdominal muscles, but increases the risk of injury from the exercise.

After setting up the bench, you can begin performing the exercise.

1. Sit on a bench, fix your legs tightly in the bolsters. The position of the legs should not interfere with comfortable twisting.
2. Lean back on the bench as much as possible, relaxing the neck muscles.
3. Cross your arms over your chest.
4. Slowly twist, trying not to lift your torso.
5. Fix at the top point of the amplitude.
6. Straighten up.

Despite its apparent simplicity, the exercise has a number of tricks that can be mastered after the basic technique.

Hand position. If you need to greatly increase the load, it is not necessary to change the angle of the bench itself, it is enough to change the center of gravity of the body. This is done by changing the position of the hands. The easiest option is to put your hands behind your head. If this already becomes simple, then you can fully extend your arms behind your head. This will make the correct technique more difficult, but the load will increase proportionally.

Correct breathing. Many people retain air during exercise, which is fundamentally wrong; this creates additional pressure in the abdominal cavity, which negatively affects pumping. Inhale at the lower amplitude. When rising, exhale.

Weighting. Professional athletes (bodybuilders, powerlifters, crossfitters) practice using a plate for heavy loading. The choice must be made carefully. In particular, it should not interfere correct technique performing the exercise. It is better to take 2.5 kg on the head than 25 kg on the chest.

And the most important thing. You cannot train the abdominal muscles at the beginning of the workout. Although many people talk about pre-fatigue and warming up. After all, they are responsible for maintaining the body in an even condition. This means that when working with deadlifts or squats, after even the slightest overload of the abs on a Roman chair, the performance will drop significantly, which will slow down the growth of the back and legs, which means it can only be performed at the end of the training complex. This can be done before hyperextension, since at first, many are tempted to completely lift the body instead of twisting, and a weak lower back (pre-tired by hyperextension) can have a detrimental effect on the condition of the spine if the technique is violated.

What everyone knows about but is silent

The most popular mistake has been perpetuated for decades in sports clubs, physical education, and even in modern gyms. This is the range of motion! The incline crunch technique does not imply a full rise of the body! No need to keep your back straight! As the name suggests, the exercise is a crunch, not a lift. The amplitude must be very small! But why? After all, for decades the press was pumped much more difficult, with a full rise of the body, which seemed much harder. It's very simple, if you keep your back straight, most of the load is not absorbed by the abdominal muscles. In most cases they are turned off altogether. Instead, the burden falls on:

• Lower back muscles. Huge static overload, which can quickly lead to breakdown of the lumbar muscle.
• Neck muscles. Although the load on them is less, due to the insufficient strength of these muscles, it is more catastrophic.

Therefore, it is important to remember that you need to curl up, not lift up. The second mistake is related to this. Choosing an angle for an incline bench that is too steep. You can use 60 degrees, but only if the athlete has perfectly mastered the technique.

How to do crunches on an incline bench correctly is clearly visible in the photo. If you look closely, you can see the mistakes and how to do it right. Despite the fact that it seems that the “wrong option” is heavier, simple crunches are much more effective than any bicycle.

Variations

There are several subtypes of incline abdominal crunches. Let's take a closer look:

All this happens with a very minor change in technology. It is enough to make a slope of 5-10 degrees to the side, and most of the load will fly off the rectus muscle and go to another target

Muscle load

The incline crunch is an isolating load on the following muscles:

• Rectus abdominis muscle. The main emphasis is on her.
• Lateral abdominal muscles - work as core stabilizers;
• Oblique abdominal muscles – small static load. To increase it, you need to pull the body towards a separate leg. (in addition, there is a variation of our exercise -).
• Core muscles. Train only with proper breathing.
• Quadriceps.

Yes, no matter how strange it may seem to anyone. At a high angle, the leg extensors work at full capacity. This happens due to the fact that the body wants to straighten up when twisting (natural resistance), which means it involves the legs, which try to straighten the metal roller. The load is quite noticeable, although isolated.

Programs

When is the best time to train your abdominal muscles? Are there any special training programs? No! The abdominal muscles are worked out in every workout, regardless of its purpose. During the circuit, twisting is combined with hanging leg raises. This is done to create a deep load on the abdominal cavity. During splits, it is simply physically impossible to stick the abs anywhere, so you train after each complex. But this applies to exercises without weights. In the case of working with weights, it is better to dedicate a separate training day to the abs, focusing on them completely. This is called a four-day split.

On the last day, the following exercises are highlighted:

• Crunches on an incline bench (as one of the variations);
• Hanging leg raises;
• Side crunches on the floor;
• Crisscross twists;
• Bike;
• Plank;
• Hyperextension;
• Burpees.

Together, this creates a 40-minute workout, in superset mode, the abs in this case are trained as opposed to the back muscles, and hyperextension and plank train lumbar region, as compensation for the main loads.

Bottom line

Abdominal training is the most important aspect of any athlete's training. Firstly, a well-developed rectus muscle delays the drying process by 5-7 kilograms, which allows you not to torment yourself with diets and weight loss complexes. And the most important thing - beautiful abs, worked out using incline crunches is always a good figure. Men and women primarily pay attention not to the quality of the deltoids or triceps, but to the abdominal muscles.

Incline crunches are one of the most effective exercises for pumping the press. It forces the rectus abdominis, external and internal oblique abdominal muscles to work simultaneously. We will discuss in this article how to perform it correctly and what mistakes should be avoided.

Kinds

Let's look at the technique of the exercise; the exercise is considered not dangerous, but for it to be effective, the technique must be perfect.

Classic

Lie down on an incline bench with your legs firmly and comfortably secured. Place your hands behind your head, elbows pointing inward; if curling your hands is uncomfortable, you can use a towel. Watch your neck; there should be no stress on it from your hands. Press your lower back tightly against the bench to isolate your abdominal muscles. This is the starting position.

As you exhale, begin twisting while lifting your shoulders off the bench, while pressing your lower back into the bench as hard as possible.

Make sure your shoulders rise no more than 15 centimeters from the bench. At the end of the movement, tighten your abdominal muscles as much as possible and return to initial position.

The legs can be kept straight or bent. Make sure that there is no traumatic stress on the lower spine and rectus back muscles. You can also use various weights to complicate the training process and increase the load on the muscles. abdominals.

What muscles are involved?

Our abdominal region consists of 3 types of main muscles. These are the serratus abdominis, external obliques and rectus abdominis. Remember, there are no separate top and lower cubes The press is all one muscle, and the desired cubes are its surface and a sign of good training, they are visible with a low percentage of fat and good physical shape.

Also, during crunches, the lower back muscles work in a static mode; some call them the lumbar columns; they fix our lower back on the bench.

Oblique crunches

There is also a variant of oblique crunches, which allows you to effectively work out the serratus abdominal muscles and oblique abdominal muscles. The technique of the exercise and its complexity are suitable for all types of fitness, whether beginners or professionals.

Lie down on an incline bench with your feet firmly and firmly planted in the supports. Place one hand on the back of your head, the other on your thigh. This is the starting position. Start twisting top part body, moving up and to the side, twisting the torso until the elbow touches the opposite knee. Slowly return to the starting position. Perform the exercise the required number of times.

While performing the exercise, do not hold your breath, and perform all movements slowly, keeping your abdominal muscles tense. It is important to feel the load.

Common mistakes

At first glance, crunching on an incline bench is an elementary exercise, but even with it you can make many mistakes that can harm your health and worsen the quality of the training process.

First mistake

This is a clasp of hands behind the head. Why is this dangerous, you think? It's all about the biomechanical processes of our body. When performing crunches, we tense the right part of the body, thereby involuntarily giving force impulses to the arms, while the arms will try to push us upward.

The neck will take an unnatural position and due to this, you can get injuries such as a pinched nerve, injury to the cervical vertebrae, or curvature of the upper spine. These are the most common injuries.

Second

While performing crunches, you may be familiar with it from your school desk, or rather, from physical education lessons. This is to lift your lower back off while performing an exercise. We're all used to doing abs on the beam, using the full range of our body, thereby providing excellent abs, but recent studies have shown that basic sit-ups can be detrimental to our spine.

The thing is that due to body weight, an unwanted load occurs on spinal column, and with frequent performance of this exercise, a deterioration in the condition of the subjects was noticed. Therefore, twisting has been proposed as a worthy alternative that has positive qualities and does not affect the spine.

Also, you should not allow sudden jerks in movements, strongly twist your body to the sides, or perform exercises while slouching.

Third

A mistake that can cause damage training process, is not correct breathing. Holding your breath causes a lack of oxygen in our body. During exercise, our muscles use oxygen as one of the types of fuel, so we need to breathe while twisting, inhale, while returning to the starting position, exhale.

Proper breathing also normalizes arterial pressure. Because when doing crunches on an incline bench, our heart has to pump blood up and down. Therefore, due to improper breathing and its delay, you may begin to feel dizzy, have attacks of nausea, increased blood pressure and other negative consequences.

Making classes more difficult

Complications are often used in athletic gymnastics, cross-fit and fitness.

An exercise such as incline crunches can be made more difficult as the abdominal muscles adapt to the load over time. Therefore, you can train your abs every other day, and as a complication, use adding weight and changing the angle of the bench.

To select weights, use any objects that can be held in your hands; this could be a barbell or a medicine ball, or a stack of books if training takes place at home.

How to choose optimal weight burdens. The weight of the weight can be selected using a simple test; you need to do 20-30 crunches with weights; if you do not feel a burning sensation in the muscles, then you can add weight.

The angle of inclination can make it more difficult to perform crunches by increasing the amplitude; the lower your starting position, the more difficult the repetitions are for you.

Professionals use a wide angle and well-chosen weights.

• If you have a hard time doing crunches, bend your knees slightly, thereby reducing the static load on your abs.
• If you want to give static tension, then keep your legs straight.
• Also, to apply static tension to the abdominal muscles, you can raise and hold your arms above your head, thereby you will stretch the muscles well and they will be tense.

Reverse crunches

Reverse crunches or incline leg raises. A universal exercise for working the lower rectus abdominal muscle. It also has a beneficial effect on the lumbar region.

Exercise technique

You need to lie on an inclined bench, feet down. Hold the bench tightly with your hands and try not to slide down the bench. Keep your abdominal muscles tense. Raise your legs and bend your knees slightly. This is the starting position.

Trying to touch your knees to your chest, lift your legs, lifting your pelvis off the bench. Hold the position for 2 seconds and return to the starting position. Beginners can do this exercise on a straight bench. To complicate matters, you can use .

We once wrote about how to properly pump up the abs, now we decided to show how NOT to load your abdominal muscles (yes, that’s what the abs are called). After all, this is a very important muscle group for anyone involved in fitness.

1. Torso bending on a bench

A long time ago, this exercise for the press was practically the only one. The only question was what inclination to give the bench and where to place the hands. However, modern sports medicine warns against using this exercise.

Let's start with the fact that this exercise is far from the most effective. The actually effective range of motion for the abs is quite short, and when bending your torso on a bench, you perform most of the movement in vain.

But the worst thing about this exercise is the potential harm to your back. During trunk bending exercises on a bench, a compression load occurs on the lower back, which exceeds the recommended threshold approved by the American National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety. Their report states that prolonged stress while bending the torso on a bench over time can lead to various disorders in the back, an increased risk of spinal hernia, and the accumulation of a negative background that can result in various injuries.

2. Leg Throws

You lie down, and during this exercise your partner throws your legs down, and you try to carefully put them down and lift them up again. “Keep this abdominal exercise out of your routine,” says Cedric Bryant, a senior scientist at the American Council on Exercise, for a similar reason—excessive stress on the lumbar spine. If you have had problems with your lower back or lower back, this exercise may cause pain. And even if the exercise doesn't cause immediate pain, it can cause chronic back pain over time.

3. Ab Circle Pro exercises

It's sad, but shops on the couch with a bunch of magical things that will create six-pack abs in a couple of weeks are thriving. One of the most famous “magic exercise machines” in the world, Ab Circle Pro, judging by the advertising, promised to “remove 10 pounds (almost 5 kg) in 2 weeks” and even talked about local fat burning on the stomach. As a result, in the USA, the manufacturer of the simulator was fined $9.3 million for advertising that did not correspond to reality.

Well, in countries like Russia, such advertising statements have apparently long been considered the norm. And you can easily buy Ab Circle Pro at a price of 3.5 thousand rubles. The point of this machine, according to Dr. Bryant, is to lighten the load as you complete movements. Studies have shown that the normal floor curl is more effective than the Ab Circle Pro.

Twisting is basic exercise for the abdominal muscles. It represents lifting the body towards the knees without lifting the lower back from the bench. Its difficulty level is medium.

Incline crunches are a more complex variation of this exercise. Mostly the upper section of the press works, but part of the load falls on the lower one.

There are several options for its implementation, varying in severity and force of impact on the abdominal muscles. The athlete’s task is to twist so that the abdominal muscles work.

Crunches are performed by athletes of any level of training. Exercise speeds up the drying process.

What muscles are involved?

Mainly the rectus abdominis and oblique muscles (internal and external) are loaded. Additionally, the muscles that flex the leg at the hip joint (iliopsoas and rectus femoris) are included.

During the exercise, the rectus abdominis muscle brings the chest closer to the hips, flexing the spine, and compresses the abdominal cavity. Internal obliques and external obliques bend the spine (forward, to the sides), and rotate it around its axis.

Types of crunches on an incline bench

There are three types of twists: straight (classical), oblique and reverse.

Direct

The technique for performing crunches on an incline bench is as follows:

1. Sit on the exercise machine, fix your feet by moving them behind the soft rollers.
2. Lie down on a bench, hold your hands in front of your ears, do not clasp them behind your head.
3. While inhaling, pull your shoulders to your legs as close as possible by working your abs, which should be as tense as possible. The lower back should not come off the bench; on the contrary, it should be pressed harder against it.
4. Exhale and return to i. n. You need to lower yourself onto the bench at a slow pace. At the lowest point, do not relax the abs.
5. Do the required number of repetitions.

Oblique

This variation of incline crunches is designed to train the oblique abdominal muscles.

The technique is as follows:

1. Sit on a bench, properly fixing your feet with soft bolsters.
2. Lie down on a bench, put one hand on your thigh, the other on the back of your head.
3. Inhale, raise the body diagonally so that the elbow of the bent arm touches the opposite knee. Exhale and return to the starting position at a slow pace.
4. Do required amount reps, then switch hands and change the side of the lift.

Do not hold your breath, the abdominal muscles should be tense, the load should be felt.

Reverse

Reverse crunches involve lifting the legs and pelvis, not the body, as in the previous cases. Designed to work the lower segment of the rectus abdominis muscle and the muscles of the lumbar region.

The technique is as follows:

1. Lie on the machine with your head up and firmly grasp the soft rollers with your hands. It is important to maintain balance while performing the exercise.
2. Bend your legs slightly at the knees and raise them.
3. Inhale and raise your legs up, while your pelvis should lift off the bench. Raise your legs as if trying to reach your chest with them. The abdominal muscles are tense at this moment. Hold this position for a couple of seconds.
4. Exhale and return to the starting position.

Beginner athletes can perform reverse crunches on a horizontal bench.

Complicating the exercise

The incline crunch can be made more difficult by using weights that you can hold in your hands while performing the exercise. These are barbell plates, dumbbells, medicine balls.

The weight of the weights is selected in such a way that a burning sensation is felt in the abdominal muscles when performing the required number of repetitions. If there is no burning sensation, the weight can be increased.

Changing the angle of the bench can make the crunch more difficult. The steeper the slope, the greater the amplitude of the movement, the harder it is to perform.

When performing reverse crunches on an ab bench, you can use leg weights.

The most common mistakes

Despite the fact that the exercise is of average difficulty, most athletes do not avoid mistakes at the beginning of their journey. And here are the most common:

• Fix the body in a straight position throughout the entire exercise. This option cannot be called twisting. These are lifts of the torso, where the neck and lumbar muscles work.
• Many novice athletes immediately set the bench position too steep. You need to start with a bench with a slight incline and move on to a more complex option only after mastering the technique.
• Clutching hands behind head. In this case, the arms try to push the athlete upward. This can lead to an unnatural position of the neck and, as a result, injury to the vertebrae of the neck, curvature of the spine in the upper part.
• Lifting the lower back off the bench.

Contraindications

It is important to know in what cases an exercise should be abandoned. These contraindications can be absolute (permanent) or temporary. These include:

• Stomach ulcer in the acute stage. In case of exacerbation of the disease, it is contraindicated to visit Gym, since loads, including twisting on an inclined bench, can lead to a deterioration in well-being.
• Recent surgery.
• Spinal hernia. This is not a reason to give up training, but you should give up doing crunches on an incline gymnastic bench.
• Benign tumors of the abdominal cavity.

If the exercise is difficult, you can first cross your arms over your chest or hold them on the bench.

When performing crunches on an incline bench, you can lower yourself completely (lie down on the bench) or to a level where your body is parallel to the floor. In the first case, the amplitude of movement is greater, in the second case, the abdominal muscles contract harder and faster.

There is an opinion that there is nothing bad in the fact that the lumbar muscles are included in the work when the lower back is lifted off the bench. But if you need to exclude them from work, then you need to twist your back only in the thoracic region, and press your lower back as hard as possible against the bench.

Crunching is an exercise that must be performed regularly, otherwise it will not give results. It is not enough for abs to appear. Cubes are an indicator of a low fat percentage, and to achieve this, you first need a thoughtful diet.