Crunches are the Devil!
Well no not really sort of......................................
This post was inspired by an article I read from TNation I am guilty my-self of prescribing crunches for my athletes. Athletically there isn't much use for them unless you are training a Brazilian Jui-Jujitsu Athlete and he/she need it for their guard.
I am going to quote Jerry Ward "Bro Science" I have been husky most of my life and haven't had any chronic beck problems. With the exception of a Department of Transportation Physical six years ago I haven't darkened the door of a Chiropracticer and the time before that was when I was playing college football and could't turn my neck enough to see the side-view mirror my Ford Ranger.
Is it great genes? No both of my parents had bad backs so much so they consumed enough Ibuprofen and Aleve to punch a ton of holes in their livers. It also might be that I have stayed somewhat active lifted weights or did Jujtistu most of my working life. I have done so without doing many crunches. In fact I still do not do much direct AB work with the exception some planks most of my AB work comes from lifting, pushing. pulling, carrying and throwing heavy things.
In fact I can pretty much out plank all of the athletes I work with the only exception is a sixteen year old female who is going to be a D-1 track athlete,
Still why not the crunch?
First cannot really externally load them to make them more difficult you can put your legs in different positions, but still hard to hit that fast twitch muscle fiber of under 8 reps or 10 seconds of ATP/
Secondly it doesn't do much for the waistline if the athlete wants a smaller waistline that is born in the kitchen and then have them google how to do vacuum.
Third most sports applications exception Brazilian Jui-Jujitsu abs and core are needed to resist external forces. Keeping tight in the start, drive, and float phases of a sprint. Over coming gravity, change of directions, and inertia in volleyball. In football, basketball, soccer over coming the same external forces involved with volleyball a long with having to deal with the external forces of running into and being ran into by other players.
Finally there is a skill of breathing and bracing which is going to protect the back which has nothing to do with the crunch developed abs. Knowing how to breath and brace has so many applications Gymnastics, Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Throwing and Jumping events in Track.
So what are some good alternatives to the crunch?
AB Wheel
Pro: They work with minimum volume.
Con: They are hard and you have to buy an ab wheel if one is not available.
Carries
Pro: Forces the athletes to have good posture and can use any heavy thingy.
Con: They can become boring if the weather is bad or have to doge everybody on the floor doing crunches getting summer body ready! Also have to use collars or learn the airplane turn because sometimes the weights will fly off when you are turning.
Planks
Pro: Can be done anywhere minimum equipment might need a timer if you speed up how you say Mississippi under tension.
Con: Form can get out of control quickly and the temple you are building becomes an Egyptian Grave site for Pharaohs(Pyramid),
Bands
Pro: The possibilities are endless
Con: Have to have really good spacial awareness to progress in the exercise from where you slip knotted the band to where your body is planted.
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