Exercise Of The Week: Cable Abs Crunch

photo credit: fitwirr

The Cable Abs Crunch is one of the common abdominal (stomach) exercise used in the gym. Cable crunches are a very effective, low impact way of exercising the abdominal muscles.

When performed correctly, cable abs crunch will strengthen and add muscle mass to the abs. It is also a great means to start getting a mid-section that so many people long to have; those six-pack abs!!!

What makes this exercise unique is the ability to adjust the resistance level with the weight stack and create variable resistance to build up your abdominals. The variability and resistance of the cable pulley system challenges the abdominal muscles and boosts their growth. This exercise requires cable equipment like cross bow machine which can be found in many gyms.

There is quite number s of write-ups about how selectorized weight training gym machines are no good and are for baseline level fitness. There may be better alternatives to these machines, but someone with degraded muscle tissue and joint instability has no business starting off using barbell back exercise (good mornings). The cable crunch machine is a perfect alternative to as a phase one to learning the motion. You use them when you are unable to perform certain exercises in full and they also provide a complement to other exercises to improve the range of muscles target and how they are targeted.

Exercise Data

Type: Strength

Main Muscle Worked: Abdominals

Equipment: Cable, weighted pulley

Mechanics Type: Isolation (An exercise that involves one joint movement)

Level: Beginner

Force: Pull (A movement toward centre of body during the concentric contraction of the target muscle).

How To Preform Cable Abs Crunch

1.      Grasp the cable handle(s) with both hands over your shoulders or pull down close your ears, (with the palms of the hands facing each other plus depending on the machine in use). Either kneel on the floor, or sit on a bench with your back towards the weight stack. Tip: Allow the weight to hyperextend the lower back slightly. This will be your starting position. With your feet firmly on the ground and keeping your hips steady, flex at the waist your elbows towards your knees. Return to the starting position.

2.      With your feet firmly on the ground and keeping your hips stationary, tighten the abdominal muscles and pull bringing the elbows down towards the knees. Breathe out as you perform this step.

3.      Breathe in, return to the starting position slowly.

4.      Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions. For best results, your repetition range should be between 20-35 reps for a total of 3-4 sets.

Variation: Resistance bands can be used for this exercise.

Tips

• As with all exercises, focus on good/proper form before lifting heavy weight.Perform this exercise in a slow controlled manner. Doing each repetition too fast introduces force and relieves the work load from your abdominal muscles.

• Work on the mind muscle connection. Make sure that the abdominals are doing the work and not some other muscle group. Feel the abdominals tighten. Movement should take place in the waist and not the hips.

• Keep the hips stationary throughout your cable crunches. Your butt should firm on the bench at all times.

• The amount of weight is also an important factor while performing this exercise. If there is too much weight, you may not be able to perform the exercise with proper technique and strict form.

• To get great results, you can perform drop sets which mean to combine this abs exercise with a certain amount of reps and then reduce the weight on the cable machine and do another set immediately after. Rest between sets for one minute and then do 2-3 more sets. Train your abs 2-3 times per week for the best results.