Ab Crunch 3
over the Exercise Ball

Starting Position
  • Get yourself out to the supine position (How to lie on the exercise ball)
  • Put your hands behind your head but don't interlock your fingers.
  • Keep your feet hip width apart or closer.
  • Head neck and hips should form a straight line from your head to your knees.
Action
  • Use your abdominals to pull your shoulders up.
  • Visualize the distance between your rib cage and your pelvis as shortening as you do this.
Prime Movers
  • Abdominals, neck flexors
Physio Tips
  • Push your tongue to the roof of your mouth to facilitate deep neck flexors so as to avoid neck strain.
  • Also, push your chin down as though to squeeze an orange between your chin and your chest to stabilize your neck.
Progression
  • Have someone hold your feet as you move forward and perform this ball exercise with the ball under your pelvis.
  • Hold a weight across your chest.
There are a lot of websites out there to tell you how to perform abdominal crunches. This version over the exercise ball allows you to work your abdominal muscles through a larger range of motion than on the floor. Putting your arms over your head shifts your mass over the ball forcing your abdominal muscles to work harder.

If your find this too difficult, go back and try
Ab crunches 1
Ab crunches 2



1ballsRepeat this ball exercise 6 times.

2ballsRepeat this ball exercise 10 times.

3ballsRepeat this ball exercise 15 times.

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