Monday, August 07, 2000
PERSONAL TRAINER
Proper crunch technique can avoid neck injuries
By Dave Patania
Question: If you were going to purchase a machine to help strengthen and tone your abdominal muscles, what would it be?
Answer: I wouldn't purchase a machine.
A common ploy by companies that sell abdominal machines is to mention that doing standard abdominal crunches on the floor will hurt your neck so as to persuade you to buy their product. From my personal experience, I have found that almost everyone who has neck problems while doing standard crunches were doing them incorrectly.
In the world of fitness, there are countless exercises that can cause discomfort or injury if performed incorrectly.
The key to doing crunches without aggravating your neck is to lay flat on your back ensuring that your lower back is in contact with the floor, your legs in the air at a 90-degree angle while holding your head in your hands behind each ear without clasping your hands together (with hands clasped, people tend to pull up on their heads thus pulling on the neck).
You should then contract your abdominal muscles so that they raise your shoulder blades off the floor. Your shoulders should only come up a few inches off the floor.
During the time that you are performing the movement, remember to keep your head, hands and elbows still and let the abs do the work, not your neck. Go slowly and smoothly, and remember that it is the quality of exercise that is most important, not quantity.
Learning how to correctly perform a crunch will:
• Save you money.
• Allow you the luxury of being able to do a quality, effective exercise no matter where you are. I highly recommend that you go to your local fitness center and have a trainer take a few minutes to show you how to perform a safe a crunch and a few versions of the crunch for variation.
Q: I read that I should perform two sets of eight repetitions for every weightlifting exercise and then move the weight up and perform five more. Keeping in mind that I am a 53-year-old woman, is this correct?
A: If you are training to see how strong you can get or you are training for the national power-lifting championships in your age group, you might want to use a different approach. For basic toning and strengthening, try performing 1-3 sets (depending on your preference and how you feel that day) of 10-20 repetitions.
Adjust the weight according to how many repetitions you are going for. Nothing is carved in stone with regard to lifting; mix things up and use a variety of approaches. Look at what your goals are and choose the appropriate intensities and amount of weight.
Dave Patania, a certified personal trainer, welcomes your questions. Send them to Personal Trainer, The Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. Or e-mail davpatania@aol.com.
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