I feel silly telling you about crunches. Everyone knows what a crunch is! But when I learnt how to do them correctly, I really felt the difference. I’m obsessed with saying “Slice your belly button with your ribs”, and now you can be too! This is how I believe a crunch should be done. Try it tonight. Trust me, you’ll feel the difference :)

• Lie on your back with your knees bent. Lift your head and shoulders slightly off the ground, activate your core. (You can rest your hands behind your head to support your neck, but don’t use your hands to lift your head. Merely rest them there.) When you begin the “crunch” motion, imagine that your ribs are slicing your belly button in half. Your ribs will have to be on the same plane as your belly button in order to do this so this is a very small motion, only 1 – 2 inches. Hold for 2 counts and come back to your starting activated position. Try never to dip below activation. Work you way up to 25! When you’re there, add another set!

• Try the Boxer’s Crunch!

Follow the directions for a regular crunch, but keep your hands in front of your chest. Punch and crunch across your body to the right, slicing your belly button with your ribs and then punch and crunch across your body to the left. Try performing 15 crunches on each side and work your way up from there!

• These are merely 2 of the many ways you can perform crunches! Have some fun with them. They’re quick and easy- you can hammer out a set when you wake up and one before bed. Don’t think about it, just do it. I guess Nike was right.