Weighted Crunch

Execution

1. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat, the weight held against your chest.
2. Brace your belly and tuck your chin slightly before the first rep.
3. Exhale and curl your shoulder blades a few centimeters off the mat, leading with your ribs toward your hips.
4. Keep the weight glued to your chest rather than pressing it toward the ceiling.
5. Pause for one beat at the top, feeling the abs squeeze rather than the neck.
6. Inhale and lower back down under control, without letting your head bang the mat.

Quick cues

• Ribs reach toward the hips.
• Weight stays glued to your chest.
• A few centimeters is enough.
• Chin tucked, neck relaxed.
• Exhale right as you curl up.

Common faults

• Fault: Pulling with the neck instead of the abs

  Fix: Rest the fingertips lightly at the ears instead of lacing them behind the head, and lead with the ribs.

• Fault: Using the weight's momentum by jerking it upward

  Fix: Cut the load in half until the rep is controlled both ways.

• Fault: Only lifting a couple of centimeters and calling it a full rep

  Fix: Film from the side and check the shoulder blades actually clear the mat.

• Fault: Holding the breath through the whole set

  Fix: Exhale sharply on every curl-up and inhale on the way down.