No more crunches

Are you serious Matt? You have been ranting about this junk and now you are telling me I can't even do CRUNCHES?! But how do I get my flat stomach or six pack?

Hold on a minute there...

A couple of months ago I started to do research on strength training knowing that I knew almost nothing about the profession. Yes, I do have a job as a trainer, but I wanted to get deeper into why and how we execute. I started this blog almost as a medium between research and practical use. I admit I have not referenced research articles much, but I will try to in this post.

As I have touched on many times, I lean towards a movement based approach. I think that looking at anything in isolation, especially the body, is a mistake and short sighted. There has to be more. I have used the analogy of the way we maintain our body to the way we maintain a car. They both have many components to them. Just because you put new tires on a vehicle, does not mean you will fix your bumpy ride. What about your suspension with the shocks, struts, boots etc. (I know nothing about cars).

There is always upstream and downstream effects to any part. If one's posterior neck musculature (back of neck) feels tight, then what is the cause? Will getting a massage on the area help with the uncomfortable feeling or pain in the area? Yes. Will a massage change the actual way we move our head, shoulders, back, arms, hips, knees, and ankles? No. Any one of these joints and all of the tissues that surround these joints have upstream and downstream effects that might be causing the tight feeling in your neck. Your body will always look for stability. Maybe your scapulas are rounded up so high towards your neck to stabilize your head (kind of important), that your neck protrudes forward just to keep normal function. Unfortunately for somebody who has this upper crossed syndrome, that is a bad and inefficient position for the neck. This is just a simple example.

So before you condemn me for not liking crunches, keep a whole body approach to theory.Let me first describe what I mean by crunch. A crunch is any movement in which the spine is flexed in relation to the hips. This includes bicycles, v-ups, oblique crunches, sit ups, reverse crunch, straight leg crunches, exercise ball crunches, etc. It also includes some hip movements like a leg raise, hip lifts, and basically anything in Pilates. Yeah that's right, I just used the word crunch to get your attention (David Putty voice).

The first reason why I don't prescribe or perform crunches is because they do not train the true function of the core muscles. I have stated here before that the trunk muscles are different than extremity muscles. We have these little things called our heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, digestive system, and our spine in the trunk. You better believe that we need some stability and protection in this area.

The only way to properly do any compound exercises like bench press, pull up, squat, or deadlift is to keep a strong, neutral and erect spine. But Matt, in a deadlift aren't you bending forward and in essence collapsing the trunk? Yeah, in a really bad deadlift that will cause you disc herniation. Contrary to popular thought, the core muscles should not be used as prime movers. When I am training somebody, I need them to keep a strong core and upright position in any exercise. Sometimes people can keep a strong core posture during a pull up, but not in a squat. Every movement is different. Unfortunately we have been thinking in isolation terms so long that we isolate the core for strength or stability and believe that it will maintain its function during anything. This theory could not be farther from the truth.

Just think, if one cannot keep there trunk erect during a large movement such as the squat (which works the quadriceps and glutes as prime movers), then you will look for some compensation. What could that compensation be? Some people tend to round their shoulders and upper back forward or arch their lower back for stability. These compensations are not normal. If you add weight and reps to these movements or keep squats as a training tool for a decent period of time, and your body will present pain. If it doesn't present pain right away, some other dysfunction might develop. Your knees might start caving in or you neck might start protruding forward. Not good.

This is where a simple sounding solution plagues our industry. The solution is to strengthen the anterior core (stomach and side area). Do crunches strengthen the anterior core? Yes, but there are better options. It is a risk to reward ratio. I would rather spend my time training the true function of the core and be able to maintain core stability through big exercises that raise metabolism, work the prime movers (the ones we like to show off), make us stronger, faster, bigger, and perform better in athletic activities. The reason "core" became so big in the industry recently is because we realized that few have it anymore. The word "core" also connotes a flat stomach and six pack. Gaining a flat stomach is achieved by taking fat off the top rather than adding muscle under.

The following exercise is not the end all be all of core exercises, but it is a great place to start in finding out your level of trunk control. I did not title this video either...


The second reason why I don't prescribe or perform crunches is because spinal flexion is unhealthy. I know what you are saying: But Matt, I do not lift my low back off the ground and only bring my shoulders up with my abs. In my experience, people do not perform a crunch how I just stated it. They lift off leading with their neck.

Nasty

The principle of overload in fitness means that to increase muscular strength, power, size, and endurance, we must increase the volume and resistance to give the muscle new reasons to grow. We must stress the muscle. When I used to do crunches, my abs would hurt for the first couple of weeks having them in my training, but after a while I needed more. I would use weight and more range of motion to try and achieve more burn in the abs. My futile attempt at getting a six pack failed and I ended up with a sore back. In this study by Wang et al., the first sentence cites other studies by saying, "the results of epidemiologic studies have identified
frequent dynamic loading, sudden forceful exertions, exposures to vibration, lifting frequency, and extreme
trunk angular position and velocity as factors related to low back pain (LBP) disorders and symptoms (2000)". Sudden forceful exertions in relation to spinal flexion sound a lot like crunches.


In this study by Marras et al., figure 3 (page 8) shows that increased velocity and flexion range of motion put the workers they studies at a higher risk of injury. Increasing the weight, range of motion, reps, per week frequency can put you at risk for low back pain. Remember pain is a symptom that something is wrong. Increased pressure on disks can definitely cause pain. Again, there are better options out there to crunches.

McGill and Karpowicz (2009) compared electromyographic (EMG muscle activation) readings in 4 different core exercises. In the EMG studies, he notes that corrective teaching of these exercises improves muscle activation. In doing these, try not to focus on feeling a lactic acid burn, but rather a stiff and stopping motion type of feel. Remember, the core muscles are not like the muscles in our arms and legs. In defense of a crunch type exercise, McGill actually recommends doing a curl up. A curl up is supporting the lower back by sticking ones hands under it.

Still, I believe somebody must graduate to this exercise. I am biased in that I deal with a lot of clients with previous back pain, but to be able to lift the trunk without putting the neck in a bad position is tough. Again, there are better options. To reiterate my philosophy, my main goal is for a client to keep core stability through many movements. Being able to keep core control not only reinforces good movement by other muscles, but it allows me to speed up a workout and add weight and reps to promote muscle growth.

Part 2 next time!