Before you go any further, be warned, it’s very likely you won’t like what I have to say, and might consider it wrong. So I’m not going to argue whether you should continue doing crunches after this article or not, I’m leaving this choice entirely to you. I will, however, share my thought on doing crunches and other Six Pack Abs exercises.
I’ve heard many times that people do their crunches and other abdominal exercises to burn their belly fat. As far as I know, there are no known methods to burn fat from a specific part of our body, so that excuse for performing crunches in order to burn belly fat is invalid in my eyes. I’ve also heard that some are sure that they are on the right track of burning fat due to perform those exercises because they feel a burning sensation while performing those, and so it means that they are burning belly fat. Unfortunately, that burning sensation is a normal physiological outcome for working hard on a specific area and is non related to fat burn.
I feel that burn while doing Squats, Deadlifts, Over Head Presses, Sprinting and/or any other exercise reaching my limit, but that does not mean I burn more fat. The burning sensation can be caused due different reasons, one of which is the heat that the muscle produces while contracting and engaging the movement that is performed. Overall, if you check different charts, doing crunches is not necessarily more beneficial for you, calorie wise, if compared to other movements, it burns a low amount of calories, and might not be the extra push you wish to include in your session.
Most crunches I’ve seen, were not performed properly – legs were engaging as well, sometimes the spine entered movements with high velocity, that for the long term could cause pain, the shoulder blades were misplaced, and the list continues with different, more specific, variations of the above.
Yes, you should work your Abdominals, they are part of the body, and engage in many different ways, throughout almost every motion we perform. No, you should not engage in common conventional training methods in order to reach them.
I do not remember the last time I did any conventional work for my Abdominals, you will not see me crunch, or suggesting someone to engage in a crunch, because when I check Pros and Cons, the benefit is not worth the risk.
I work my Abdominals through compound movement exercises. They are engaged to help maintain our spine’s posture from over extending when we lift weights for most of our upper body activities. Should you decide to work, single sided, or do an uneven lift, they would prevent your body from rotating or side bending and keep you spine where it should be. I highly recommend engaging those types of movements every once in a while, you can read more about those methods through the article Symmetrical Vs. Asymmetrical.
Another way I recommend to work and engage the abdominal group, is by doing static work, Planks, Side Planks, Static Rotations, Single Leg Stands, holding unbalanced positions with your body, etc. Note not to over exceed with Plank time, as it can cause issues as well, but if done correctly, for either short periods or with non-spine related movements, it can do wonders, and can really work on all the layers of the Abdominal group on a more functional level (Functional Training should you like to read some more on the matter).
Six Pack Abs are achieved with a balanced diet, tailored for you, and not with how many crunches you can or can’t do. If you check any other muscle in the human anatomy, for you to see the muscle’s outline and fibers, you must reach a low enough fat percentage amount, or you’d just have the strength and not a defined form.
Take for example Strongmen and Body Builders, you can see every fiber of every muscle on a professional Body Builder, unlike the muscle and body posture of a Strongmen, which is lacking the muscle definitions. Yes, both Body Builders and Strongmen have strong muscles, but Strongmen do not seem as fit as Body Builders. Why? Because Strongmen have a pretty high amount of fat percentage compared to Body Builders.
Find the way that suits you best, and meets your goals, take into consideration that you might be doing something wrong when trying to achieve your six pack abs. Highly recommend you to schedule a session with a certified nutritionist. Hope you found my ideas enlightening and would change the way you pursue your goal. You can always reach out for me through here should you have any questions or requests.