| Muscles Worked: | Abs, Obliques, Glutes. |
| Level: | Beginner to Intermediate |
| Main Goal: | Reduce Belly Fat. |
What is Bicycle Crunch?
Bicycle Crunch exercise is a classic and effective core exercise. It builds and strengthens your abs at the next level.
It works both your lower and upper abs simultaneously. It also affects your oblique muscles.
If you want to reduce your belly fat and sides of your love handles then bicycle crunch is one of the best core workouts that really help to remove the fat and build defined abs.
It requires no equipment, beginner’s level of exercise you can do anywhere but it is a little bit difficult to do when you doing continuous reps.
That’s the power of bicycle crunches when you perform it continue, you feel the ignite or pain in your belly.
Bellow the process in which describe very meticulously, so read it and apply on yourself.
How to do a Bicycle Crunch?
- Lie on the mat back, and place your hands on the back of your head.
- Bring both of your knees toward your chest and your shins are parallel to the ground.
- Keep the elbow wider and slightly curl your head up.
- Now start the exercise by bringing your right elbow toward your left knee by extending your right leg back parallel to the ground and your left arm back.
- Alternate, at the same momentum, bring your left elbow towards your right knee by extending the left leg back the same as the right one and right arm back.
- Repeat it continuously until failure or 15 reps on each side.
- Sets: 3-5 sets
- Reps: 15-20 reps on each side of limb or failure.
- Rest: 30-45 seconds of rest between the sets.
Why Bicycle Crunch?
The bicycle crunch is an exercise that you can do continuously without any pause or you can also do with a pause. When you do this movement with pause you feel the pressure that is generated from transverse abdominal muscle. When you do this exercise without any pause at the end of the last reps you feel the burning sensation in your abdominal muscle.
The main purpose to do bicycle crunches is for the “six-pack” that everyone loves to have. The Bicycle Crunches worked on muscles are the rectus abdominus, hips, and obliques. Keeping your leg off the ground targets your lower abs and head on the upper. The rotation activates your obliques and the pedaling of the leg in the air stimulates the hips.
In a short term, bicycle crunch is a great exercise to sculpt and define your abs.
Tips for Crunches
- Engage your core when you raise your upper body. If the movement comes from your head or neck, you’ll increase the risk of injury.
- Move in a controlled and slow, that gives you great impact on your rectus abdominal muscles. Rapid movement won’t engage your right muscles.
Benefits of Bicycle Crunches
The bicycle crunch is excellent for activating your rectus abdominis from all angles.
By raising your legs, you also engage your transverse abdominis, which is a deep ab muscle and hard to target.
Without any equipment, you can tone your thighs, hamstrings, and quad muscles also. It also affects your obliques.
Advance Movement
Below are some moves that are better than bicycle crunch to activate your rectus abdominals and oblique muscles at a peak level.
1. Dolphine Push-Ups.
How to do:- Lie straight with your face opposite to the floor by making the position or forearm plank. Bend your elbow at shoulder level and arms straight forward and parallel to each other. Keep your body straight and your neck neutral by gazing at your hands below. Inhale and engage your core, and push your hips up towards the ceiling by moving your head toward your elbows. On the exhale, bring it back to starting position. Repeat it until 18 to 10 reps are completed with 3 sets.
2. Hip-Dips.
How to do:- Begin in a forearm plank position. Engage your abs and keep your upper body stable as you twist to stack your left hip over the right hip in a controllable way. Pause, then return to the original position and now twist the alternating side the same as you did. Repeat it until 14 reps are completed with 3 sets.
3. Twisting Mountain Climbers.
How to do:- Begin in a high plank position with straight arms and your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width. Bend your right knee and bring it forward to the left elbow and then quickly back and do the same with your left leg. Continue alternating legs until 18 reps are completed with 3 sets.
4. Reverse Crunch
How to do:- Lie face-up on a mat with knees bent at 90 degree and your feet flat on the floor. Keep your arms near sides of your body. Exhale and brace your core. Lift your feet off the ground and raise your feet until your shins are parallel to the ground. Tuck your knees toward your face as far as you can comfortably go with lifting your lower back. Make sure your upper mid back stay on your mat. Hold for a moment and slowly lower your feet back toward the floor until they reach the ground. Repeat. Do 3 sets of 12 reps.
5. Scissor Kicks
How to do: Lie flat on your back on the floor or mat. Engage your core, ensuring your lower back is pressed into the floor. Lift your both leg off the ground until they reach angle of 35-45 degree. Now bring one leg up to the other by crossing to that leg. Alternate the movement back and forth.
6. Russian Twist
How to do: Sit up tall on the floor with bend your knees and feet off the ground. Hold a medicine ball or plate and squeeze it with your hands at chest height. Lean backward with a long, tall spine, holding your torso at a 45-degree angle and keeping your arms a few inches away from your chest. For here, turn your torso to the right, pause and squeeze your right oblique muscles, then turn your torso to the left and pause to squeeze your left oblique muscles. The movement should come from your ribs and not your arms.
7. Ab Wheel Rollouts.
How to do:- Grabs the abs wheel with the sides of both hands and makes a position of knees pushup where your knees are resting on the ground. Now engage your abs and push the wheel slowly forward as far you can and as low to the ground. Keep your back straight and core tense. Then roll it back to the starting position. And repeat as a failure. Only toes and knees are allowed to touch the ground.
POST REPLY