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When people think about toning down their stomach, one of the first things that they think about is Ab crunches. Ab crunches are known as the things that are going to help strengthen the abdominal muscles and make people look more slender. But most people don’t know that there are different kinds of crunches that can be done in order to help you achieve the results that you want.

There are four basic types of crunches that people enjoy doing in order to get the stomach that they are looking for. But with these different kinds, what are the best ab crunches? This is often a personal preference, depending what you are looking to target with your crunches. Are you looking for lower ab crunches, or ones that target the whole abdominal area?

Either way, listed below are some of the more common ab crunches that people do when they are working on their abdominal muscles.

• Standard – These are the crunches that people think about when they hear the words ab crunches. These are done when you are lying on your back on a mat, with your knees bent and your feet sitting flat.

Your finger tips should be up alongside your ears, and your elbows should be pointed out to the side. Brace the muscles of your abdomen, and ensure that your back is laying flat on the mat. Using your abs, lift your shoulders off the mat and continue until the blades of your shoulders are just slightly off your mat. Slowly lower yourself to the mat and continue without letting your body relax.

• Reverse Crunches – Lay on a mat on your back, bending your hips and your knees at 90 degrees. This will mean that your feet are in the air. Cross your ankles. You should be keeping your arms down by your sides and flat with your hands face down next to your butt. Using your abs, lower your knees down toward your chest, and continue going until you feel your hips come up slightly off your mat. Then return to your starting position slowly. Go to your next crunch without taking time to stop.

• Bicycle Crunches – Lie on a mat on your back with your hands up by your ears. Your elbows should be pointed out to either side of your head and your knees and hips should be bent at 90 degrees, so your feet are up off the mat. Straighten your one knee while the other knee is bent further. Using your abs, lift and then turn the upper part of your body so that you are bringing your right elbow to your left knee and your left elbow to your right knee. Make sure that you don’t bend your shoulder because that is cheating. Whle you are doing this exercise, you are going to feel like you are riding a bicycle, which is how it got its name.

• U-Crunches – Lay flat on your back on a mat and brace the muscles of your abdomen. Keeping your knees slightly bent, lift the legs up so that they are pointing toward the ceiling. Your hands should stay on your chest. Using your abs, create the shape of a U by lifting your shoulders. You should keep lifting so that your shoulder blades are off the mat slightly. Then come slowly back to your starting position.

There are a few things that you should keep in mind when you are doing ab crunches.

• Start off slowly- The first thing that you should remember to do when you are starting a regime of ab crunches is to start off slowly, especially if you haven’t exercised before. Starting out too quickly is going to do more damage than good and you could injure yourself. When you start out, do just one set of like 10 or so and gradually increase it. If you injure yourself so that you can’t do the exercise, you won’t get the results you want.

• Breathe – The second thing that you should remember to do is to breathe. This sounds crazy, but a lot of people are so concerned about doing the exercise that they find themselves out of breath. Make sure that your body is getting enough oxygen and that you are breathing during your exercise.

• Stay hydrated – The third thing to remember is that you should stay hydrated when you are working out. Your body needs the water, and when you are exercising and sweating, you are using up a lot of fluid and electrolytes. So drink water or Gatorade. It will help you to replace what you have lost during your exercise.

• Don’t overdo it – Finally, don’t overdo your exercising. There are a lot of people who want to lose weight and get themselves toned as soon as possible, and they believe that the way to do this is by overdoing their workout unfortunately, this leads to more problems than it solves. So start out slow and work your way up. If you feel pain, let off a bit. Some aching is to be expected, but you should still be able to move and do normal things after you are done with your exercises.

Ab crunches are a great way to help yourself to get into shape. It’s not going to happen overnight, however, so keep that in mind when you are starting an exercise regimen. Give your body time to adjust to this new exercise and start out slow. Remember to breathe while you are exercising and make sure that you are staying hydrated. All of these things are going to help you to be healthier and get the most out of your ab crunches.