SIDE AND REVERSE CRUNCHES  

The crunches are excellent exercises for complete rehabilitation of abdominal muscles. The crunches are available for all the parts of the abdomen. This article deals with side crunches and reverse crunches that will aid the oblique abdominal and lower abdominal muscles respectively. The crunches do not need any equipment and can be simply done in home on a smooth surface. The crunches are high intensity exercises and should be started with prior warm ups. 

Side Crunches 

The position for doing the side crunches needs huge attention. One should lie on the ground on his sides such that both your chest and spine are away from the ground. When you lie on right side, your right hand should be stretched on the shoulder line level fully. The legs should be folded on knees at right angle where the hip and left hand should make another straight line intersecting the shoulder at right angle. By pressing your right hand, you need to bend your body such that your folded left hands touch your legs. Air should be taken in while starting the exercise and should be exhaled when your bend your sides of the abdomen. The exercise should be done for at least ten times without dropping your feet to ground. The same procedure should be followed for the other side of the body also. 

Reverse Crunches 

The posture of this exercise is relatively simple. One should lie on his back with knees folded at right angles and eyes looking at it. The hands should be pressed to the ground with palms facing down. By exerting pressure on the abdomen region, one should take off his/her legs along with hips and press against the chest. By not giving much time for the hips to relax, the workouts should be done again and again so that the strains generated will not go in vain. Care should be taken that all the pressure is born by the abdominal region and does not scatter to the spinal cord or back of the body. 

Common faults 

In side crunches, the posture will go out of shape easily and still one will continue exercising. This will not prove useful. Keeping the legs on the ground and relaxing amidst doing the exercise will also waste your efforts. Pushing head and neck into the exercise out of tempts will give sprains and muscle twitches. Concentration should be shown and the pressure you generate out of the workout should be at the right spot. The common errors done during the reverse crunches are that you tend to take your hands from the ground. This should not be done. Laying down the hip on the ground to get some breather is another common error that is committed during reverse crunches. This should also be avoided.