As I have stated before, I feel the floor crunch and situps are a lousy way to build up the abs..too low intensity.

Squatting,deadlifting,front squats and other compound movements are great for the abs, but I have a nifty little excercise that some of you may or may not know. I stole it from a trainer I know(sorry buddy).It is alot harder than it looks and very effective.

Get on the floor like you are going to do a situp.

Put your hands on the outside of your knees. Left hand on the outside of the left knee etc.

Bring your head toward your kness,head down//so you are kindof in the fetal position.

Now slowly lean back,keeping your arms straight. When they are fully straightend and still on the outside of your knees stop!

Now keeping the head tucked slowly raise your arms as high as you can..now try and hold that for 10 seconds.YOU MUST KEEP YOUR FEET PLANTED ON THE FLOOR!!!

Slowly lower your arms and do it again

That is one rep! Try and do as many reps as you can for 3 sets.

For variety,get yourslef in the leanback postion, interlock your hands, have your arms straight and at about a 45 degree angle and twist from side to side,slowly, only move your arms and the hips. Russian twists..

You have to play with your feet position at first to find the "place" where you can keep your feet planted .

Slamming ab excercise!!

In one of the Rocky movies, the trainer had tied a length of rope between two posts. Rocky ducked to the left under the rope, came up and threw a one-two combination and ducked under the rope coming up on the other side. Back and forth, back and forth while moving forward. That motion works the abs and obliques very nicely.

When I was a kid I belonged to a P.A.L. boxing club. We would practice the motion with a trainer holding a broomstick. Move wrong and you got the stick.

I'm going to try these for the week. When I do crunches, I always feel it in my back more than my abs.

Emily,
alot of studies have been done on the crunch and the best way to do it is on the Swiss ball.

My buddy informed me that the arms do not have to be completely straight when leaning back. He likes his clients to raise their arms Up(arms should be straight) when they are start to feel some tension in their abs.

My arms are so long(my knuckles scrape the ground)that I would almost be flat on my back..

Thanks for the tips. I'll post back next week and let you know how it went.

Yep. I like that one. It's pretty killer. And I've got strong abs.

I HATE floor ab excercises 2! Argh. KICKBOXING! For some reason, Tae-Bo and Kickboxing (Caribbean Kickboxing Step is the best so far!) REALLY works out those abs WHILE standing.

I've done Swiss ball ab crunches. You plant your feet against a wall, sitting on the ball, and roll/lean back so that your back is out over space. And you do crunches - just keep looking at the ceiling and go up and down. You don't really curl up, just up/down.

The next day, OW.

Swiss ball crunches--your back isn't really out over space, but rather supported by the ball. A great exercise--gives you the full ROM (range of motion)--but a bit hard to describe.

Better:

That's it. I think I'm usually just a little further back, but close enough. At least when I first tried it, it really felt weird, like hanging out over space.

My trainer has been torturing me with different ab workouts. The plank, raising my legs up and down to work lower abs, crunches on the stability ball, obliques using the medicine ball, etc. My lower abs are still aching from Friday. I'm starting Pilates this week at my gym.

I agree guys, traditional crunches suck and mainly develop your hip flexors. I focus on compound muscle exercises like Gostrydr suggests. Deadlifts and other power lifting techniques does wonders for your abs. Also, if you haven't heard of them, I love Turkish getups. I use kettlebells, but you don't have to. Dumbbells are just as good. Another one that I love is renegade rows; even though it's a back exercise, your abs get a great workout. Oh, and let's not forget that evil ab wheel, which I absolutely love to hate. LOL!

Go to youtube and type in any of the exercises I've mentioned, and I'm sure that you'll find them, especially the Turkish getup or the getup.

Old (2001 research), but still:
American Council on Exercise (ACE)-sponsored Study Reveals Best and Worst Abdominal Exercises

Of course, this list doesn't include any of the "core" work from Pilates, though. And Ian King (Men's Health: Book of Muscle, 2003) cautions about starting off with the Captain's Chair, as it puts a good bit of stress on the lower back.

Cheers--
Terry-24

Mari Winsors' Ab Sculpting workout is great. 20 min of full-on burn. I've got great results from it. I also like doing hydraulic seated crunches, with my feet off the floor, so as not to over-engage the hip-flexors.