How to Do a Reverse Crunch Exercise

 The reverse crunch is a simple stomach exercise but a highly effective one. It can be done at home or any place where you have a mat or a thick carpet you can lie on.

Other than that, it's simply you and your body weight that's doing the work. No equipment required.

In a sense, this is a lying down version of the hanging leg raise exercise though a much easier exercise to do.

The reverse crunch is often referred to as a lower ab exercise and it is certainly that. However, it really works the entire length of the stomach... if done right, of course. This is exactly what this webpage is all about: helping make sure you do the reverse crunch exercise right.

Setting up

You begin by lying down on the mat with both knees bent and you feet on the ground. You place your hands next to your thighs (some prefer to stretch the arms beyond the head, but I recommend doing it this way), and raise both legs up until your thighs are at a 90 degree angle to the ground.

Make sure that your lower back is firmly on the mat and that your eyes are looking up as it helps to maintain the proper position for the neck. You can cross your ankles if that is more comfortable for you.

Let your body rest easy on the floor without any tension in it to make sure you can employ only the abs for the actual movement.

Doing the exercise

As you can see in the picture, your lower back should rise a bit over the floor but your hand and head must remain firmly on it. Don't lift your upper body at all (apart from your lower back). Only your knees should come to you.

Make sure to not use your hips or legs for the movement. This is an ab exercise so only the abdominal muscles should be working.

Make sure to clench your abs hard at the end of the movement, hold for a second, and slowly lower your knees back to the starting position. Don't let them fall too much to the floor. Hold them at the 90 degree original angle with your abs.

Exhale while bringing the knees toward you. Inhale when bringing them back to the starting position.

Do at least 10 reps per set to achieve a real workout.

Tips to make the reverse crunch harder

1. Do a weighted reverse crunch by grabbing a small medicine ball between your feet or placing ankle weights on them. Don't do this with a dumbbell as it may drop and hit you in a very inconvenient spot.

2. Do an incline reverse crunch which is also known as a supine reverse crunch.

You do this exercise by lying flat on an incline workout bench. Grab the top of the bench with both hands and do the exercise normally. This variation is awesome for the lower abs.

Suprisingly, this is sometime referred to as a decline reverse crunch, though I imagine it has to do with your perspective.

3. You can also target the obliques by bringing your knees up at an angle. Just make sure to still keep your back firmly on the ground at all times.

In Conclusion

The reverse crunch is an awesome exercise that can help build abdominal strength in the comfort of your own home. You don't even need expensive machines like the Ab Coaster (which does a similar movement) to do it. You can do it in front of the TV, whereever you want.

It's a highly effective way to tone and strengthen your abs and while it won't be enough to really help you lose your lower belly fat, it is still an excellent exercise to do often.