6) Continue alternating sides, moving in a bicycling motion with your legs, while rotating your torso with each repetition. 5) As you exhale, extend your left leg out straight, while simultaneously bringing your right knee towards your chest and rotating your left shoulder and elbow towards your right knee. 4) Begin by bringing your left knee toward your chest, while simultaneously rotating your right shoulder and elbow towards your left knee.
3) Lift your feet off the ground, keeping your knees bent and your shins parallel to the floor. 2) Lift your shoulders off the ground and engage your core muscles by contracting your abs, glutes, and quadriceps. 1) Lie flat on your back with your hands behind your head, elbows out to the sides, and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Learn proper form, discover all health benefits and. Plus, they provide an effective cardiovascular workout, helping you burn calories and increase endurance. Single leg stretch exercise guide with instructions, demonstration, calories burned and muscles worked. These crunches also improve stability, enhance balance, and promote better posture. Secondary muscles: transverse abdominal, rectus femoris, tensor fasciae lataeĪntagonists: spinal erectors The Difference Between the Bicycle Crunch and the Regular Crunchīicycle crunch is like a regular crunch, but the shoulders come up and the legs pedal as If you were riding a bike your arms are folded in front of your chest.Bicycle crunches offer a range of benefits! 🚴♀️ They engage multiple muscles simultaneously, including the rectus abdominis, obliques, and hip flexors, helping to strengthen and tone your core. Main muscles: rectus abdominis, external and internal obliques
It also works the upper thigh muscles (tensor fasciae latae and rectus femoris). Keep your elbows far apart from one another.īicycle crunch works the rectus abdominis (upper abdominal muscle) and especially the oblique muscles (internal and external).The closer you bring your elbow to the opposite knee, the better you will contract your oblique muscles and your rectus abdominis.Your shoulders should be off the floor, but your lower back and pelvis should stay as still as possible. Try this exercise to strengthen and tone the core, without placing undue stress on the lower back as many other abdominal exercises do.See more of our traini. Contract your abdominal muscles tightly to avoid engaging your lumbar region.Roll up your spine by bringing your shoulders up off the floor each time your elbow approaches your knee.Rise up just enough to lift your shoulder blades off the floor. Don’t move too much at the lumbar spine.Alternate in this pedaling motion until you finish the set, keeping the movement slow and controlled. Extend your legs out only as far as is comfortable without arching your back. In other words, you pump your legs back and forth, bicycle style, as you simultaneously rotate your torso from side to side by moving elbow up toward the opposite knee. Without relaxing the torso or returning your shoulders to the floor, repeat on the other side – using a bicycle-pedaling motion, straighten your left knee while bringing the right knee in toward the left elbow. 2- Using your core to control the movement, slowly bring your left elbow and right knee together, rotating your torso to the right and extending your left leg. As you do this straighten your right leg. Lift your shoulders off the floor (raise the torso off the ground about 30 degrees) and bring your left knee to your right elbow. Bend your knees to about a 90-degree angle your shins will be parallel to the ceiling, thighs perpendicular to the floor. Lie flat so that your lower back is pressed to the floor and your hands clasped lightly behind your head (hold your hands behind your ears). Other names for this exercise: bicycle, oblique bicycle, bicycle crunches, bicycle maneuver, bicycle movement Bicycle Crunches – Exercise Instructions The bicycle crunch involves constant movement from your arms and legs as you focus on contracting your abdominals (torso). The motion requires a balance of strength and coordination.īy crossing over your elbow to meet the opposite knee when doing this exercise, you create a circular, bike-peddling motion. The oblique bicycle crunch is an effective abdominal movement that works the core in several capacities, including trunk flexion, trunk rotation, and hip flexion. The bicycle crunches work out the oblique (side) muscles, with an added rotational movement that improves balance, stability, and core strength.