Crunch (exercise)

File:Crunches-2.png

The biomechanics professor Stuart McGill was quoted in The New York Times Health blog as stating:

An approved crunch begins with you lying down, one knee bent, and hands positioned beneath your lower back for support. "Do not hollow your stomach or press your back against the floor", McGill says. Gently lift your head and shoulders, hold briefly and relax back down.{{cite web

| url= http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/core-myths/

| title= Is Your Ab Workout Hurting Your Back?

| last= Reynolds

| first= Gretchen

| department= Well

| work= The New York Times

| date= 17 June 2009

| url-access=subscription

|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109032940/http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/core-myths/ |archive-date= Nov 9, 2020

}}

Research has shown that both sit-ups and crunches are mediocre strength-building exercises and have injured many people.{{Cite web |last=Mull |first=Amanda |date=2022-05-28 |title=The Sit-Up Is Over |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/05/sit-ups-crunches-lower-back-pain/639437/ |website=The Atlantic |language=en |quote="[McGill's] findings showed that sit-ups and crunches weren't just mediocre strength-building moves; they were actually hurting lots of people."
"In the past decade, every branch of the U.S. military has begun to phase out sit-ups and crunches from their required testing and training regimens, or else they have made them optional, alongside more orthopedically sound maneuvers such as the plank. Spokespeople for the Army and the Marines confirmed [...] that these decisions in their branches were made in part to avoid the high rates of lower-back injury found among troops training for speed sit-up and crunch tests."
"If you hadn't yet noticed crunches disappearing around you—or if you have a trainer who still puts you through your sit-up paces—McCall said he wouldn't exactly be shocked. Like many other American industries, the fitness business is consolidating, but it still contains tons of independent instructors and small businesses. Sit-ups and crunches have been discouraged by educators within the industry for years, but there are no licensing or continuing-education requirements for teaching exercise, and if trainers don't seek out new information and techniques, it can take a while for good information and new ideas to get through to them." |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314181044/https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/05/sit-ups-crunches-lower-back-pain/639437/ |archive-date= Mar 14, 2023 }}

In a crunch, unlike a sit-up, the lower back stays on the floor. This is said to eliminate any involvement by the hip flexors, and make the crunch an effective isolation exercise for the abdominals.{{Cite news|url=https://www.issaonline.edu/blog/index.cfm/2016/are-sit-ups-bad-for-you-the-us-military-seems-to-think-so |date= June 15, 2016 |title=Are Sit Ups Bad for You? The U.S. Military Seems to Think So…|first=Cameron|last=Baker|publisher=International Sports Sciences Association|access-date=17 October 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017123618/https://www.issaonline.edu/blog/index.cfm/2016/are-sit-ups-bad-for-you-the-us-military-seems-to-think-so |archive-date=17 October 2018 }}

Sirous Ahmadi has the record of doing over 20000 crunches in under 5 hours on May 11, 2024.{{cite news|title=Australian-Iranian Sports Medicine Expert Shatters Record with Over 20,000 Crunches in Under 5 Hours|url=https://www.iranartsjournal.com/article/713774419-australian-iranian-sports-medicine-expert-shatters-record-with-over-20-000-crunches-in-under-5-hours|date=May 23, 2024|access-date=23 July 2024|work=www.iranartsjournal.com}}{{cite news|title=Most Crunch Exercises Completed In A Single Five-Hour Session|url=https://recordsetter.com/world-record/crunch-exercises-completed-single-five-hour-session/57810|access-date=23 July 2024|work=RecordSetter|date=May 11, 2024}}

In 2018, John Peterson from the US did 6,774 crunches in an hour and in 2021, he did a total of 13,994 crunches in two hours.{{cite news |last1=Strillacci |first1=Elisabeth|title=Raising the stakes, John Peterson keeps challenging himself, and records|url=https://www.salisburypost.com/2022/08/16/raising-the-stakes-john-peterson-keeps-challenging-himself-and-records/|work=Salisbury Post|date=August 16, 2022|access-date=23 July 2024}}{{cite news|title=John Peterson Crunches It!|url=https://shaneksmithphotography.com/2021/12/11/john-peterson-crunches-it/|access-date=23 July 2024|work=Shane K. Smith Photography|date=December 11, 2021}}{{cite news|last=Whisenant|first=David|title=64-year-old does 13,944 abdominal crunches in two hours|url=https://www.wbtv.com/2021/12/09/64-year-old-does-13944-abdominal-crunches-two-hours/|work=www.wbtv.com|date=December 9, 2021|access-date=23 July 2024}}

• Plank (exercise)
• Sit-up

{{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|curl-up}}

{{Commons category|Crunches}}

{{Strength training exercises}}

Category:Bodyweight exercises

Category:Strength training

Category:Physical exercise

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