Crunches on the upper block for the abs (exercise “Prayer”)

The benefits and disadvantages of crunches on the upper block

The prayer exercise, due to its wide amplitude, allows you to work out the abdominal muscles with great efficiency.
Develops stabilizer muscles.
Thanks to the weight plates of the block, the athlete can change the load over a wide range.
This exercise is considered safe, so it can be included in the training process even for those people who have problems with the spine, but such people must consult a doctor before training.

If there are no contraindications to performing the prayer, and the execution technique is not violated, the exercise is absolutely harmless to the athlete’s health. Of course, you don’t need to use a lot of weight without warming up, even at the beginning of your sports journey.

Follow the correct trajectory. Contraindications to performing this exercise may include diseases of the spine and abdominal organs.

How to properly train your abs: 5 exercises for a 6-pack complex

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Workouts {amp}gt; Tired of your abs looking like a flabby belly? Do you want to get all six packs or at least have a toned, flat stomach? Read the article to the end. Here we will succinctly and to the point discuss the main aspects relating to the abs and their training.

This information will help you, but be prepared. You will have to work hard, shedding liters of sweat. You don't get anything just like that. In this case, the price is time and constant struggle with oneself. Let's start with the theory.

Some “gifted” people believe that a man needs abs only to flaunt along the beach, collecting admiring glances from girls. Yes, there is such a goal, but according to Mother Nature’s idea, the function of the press is different.

The rectus abdominis muscle is designed to twist the upper body downwards and vice versa. The oblique muscles of the abdomen maintain the vertical position of the body and help bend to the sides.

You may be thinking: why do I need to know this?

Knowing the functions of the press, you will train it properly, and not do nonsense.

How to do abdominal exercises for men

To avoid wasting several years doing abdominal exercises for men, remember 3 truths:

Train what you want to improve.
Progress takes time.
If you want to see results, change your diet.

Abdominal muscles can be either strong or resilient, but not both. Depending on the goal, the nature of the training differs. To increase muscle size, train with additional weight: a plate or dumbbell. You need to select the weight so that you can do 8-10 repetitions in one approach.

It is important to understand: from training the abs with weights, the waist expands. Take this into account if you monitor body proportions.

To increase endurance and definition, do 20 repetitions or more, without additional weights.

Have you heard the opinion that you need to “kill” your abs every day? So, this is nonsense. What kind of progress can we talk about if we injure a muscle every day without allowing it to recover? Muscles need time to heal and grow. And the press is no exception. Intersperse your workouts with at least one day of rest.

Attention!

No matter how much you suffer, no matter how many exercises you use, if your stomach is filled with fat, you will not see any cubes. The third truth - beautiful sculpted abs is a workout diet.

To get rid of fat, limit your consumption of baked goods, sweets, and junk like chips and other snacks. Load up on vegetables, be careful with fruits. In general, a minimum of simple carbohydrates and fatty foods, more fiber, complex carbohydrates, and protein.

By training large muscle groups in the gym, such as the chest, back and legs, you will achieve greater results than training at home. But the press is unpretentious in this regard. It makes no difference where to train him. The only difference is in the available exercises.

There are effective abdominal exercises for men, both for home and gym training.

crunches on a bench with a negative incline;
“Prayer” - twisting at the block;
reverse crunches;
twisting in the simulator;
body lifts with rotation.

The most effective men's abdominal exercises, which are performed exclusively in the gym, are “Prayer”, crunches on a machine and a Roman chair.

No one forbids doing other exercises in the gym, but they are also practiced at home.

Crunches on a bench (Roman chair). You need to understand that twisting is not lifting. Lying on a bench, twist your upper body down. Keep your hands behind your head. The movement starts from the head to the neck, then lift off the shoulders and upper back. Do not stop at the top point, immediately lowering under control to the starting position. Before performing, set the bench at an angle of 30 degrees.

"Prayer". The long amplitude of this exercise allows you to put more stress on the abs than in other movements.

Face the machine, grab the rope and kneel down. Holding the rope behind your head, touch your chin to your sternum and fix your pelvis. Bend slightly forward, arching your lower back. From this position, perform a twist, rounding your back until your elbows touch your feet.

Reverse crunches. Lie down on the floor or bench, stretch your arms along your body, bend your legs slightly. Pull your pelvis toward your chest until your thighs are parallel to the floor. At the lowest point, do not place your pelvis on the floor. This way you will maintain the load throughout the entire approach.

Twisting on the simulator. A great way to pump up your abs with relative comfort. Sit in the exercise machine, secure your legs with bolsters, place your hands on the handles. Exhaling, pull the upper and lower parts of the body towards each other, as if folding in half. It is important to do this while exhaling, so the load will be distributed among the target muscles.

Body lifts with rotation. A classic movement known to many from physical education lessons. Lie down on the floor or bench, fix your legs. Place your hands in a lock behind your head. Raise your body, touching your left elbow to your right knee, then lower yourself to the starting point, and then repeat the same with your right elbow and left knee.

Of the listed movements, home abdominal exercises for men are lifts and crunches, where no additional equipment is used.

It's great if you have a bench or crossbar at home. With them, you can additionally perform the following abdominal exercises for men at home: hanging leg raises; lateral pelvic lifts; straight and reverse crunches on the bench.

What a twist

There must be a conclusion here, but who needs one? Instead, an effective set of men's abdominal exercises. Don't thank me.

Warm up (bends, stretching, warming up joints) 5 minutes.
Straight crunches 3*20-30.
Reverse crunches 3*15-20.
Body lifts with rotation 3*10 (on each side).
Hanging leg raises 3*20.
Hanging side crunches 2*15 (on each side).

Rest between sets 30 – 90 seconds. Between exercises - 2-3 minutes.

What muscles work

During prayer, the rectus abdominis muscle works, but its upper part receives the main load. During the prayer exercise, the following muscles receive load:

Rectus abdominis muscle.
Back extensor and lumbar muscles.

Analysis of the exercise

What muscles work

Main muscles:

Rectus; Transverse abdominis muscle

Auxiliary:

Latissimus; Rhomboid; Oblique; Leg muscles as stabilizers when performing the exercise while standing.

Benefits of Exercise

The only strength movement on the abs, within which you can progress for as long as possible; Allows you to achieve hypertrophy of the rectus abdominis muscle, “cubes”; Improves the mobility of the spine and shoulders, prevents injuries; Safer than lifting from a bench with a negative slope; Better works the rectus muscle, than crunches without weight; Teaches the skill of “assembling” the press for basic exercises; Suitable for fairly long-term use in plans.

Minuses

There is not always a free crossover, especially if the athlete trains in the gym in the evenings; It is not possible to adapt the movement for complete beginners, they must first learn how to twist correctly on the floor; It is not recommended for injuries to the shoulder and hands, due to the specific grip in the exercise; It may cause overload of the cervical spine if a person does not know how to hold the neck correctly.

Preparing for the exercise

In fitness complexes, abdominal work is usually included at the end, which is logical, since preliminary fatigue from basic exercises performed in hypertrophy mode can be significant, and then a lot of weight will not be required. This option usually does not require any special warm-up. The entire previous set of exercises is a warm-up.

Technique for performing the prayer exercise while sitting on your knees

The exercise is performed as follows:

The athlete takes a position on the block on his knees. In his hands is a handle-rope.
As you exhale, tilt (twist the body). The movement is carried out by contracting the abdominal muscles. The head drops to the floor.
While inhaling, the athlete slowly and concentratedly returns to the starting position, leaving the muscles tense.
Brushes can be held at the forehead or behind the head, whichever is more convenient. By the way, your hands should remain motionless while performing the movement. Otherwise, if your arms help, there is a chance that the biceps and latissimus dorsi muscles will be involved.

For greater comfort and relief of discomfort, you can place a mat or towel under your knees.
When performing the prayer exercise, the athlete should concentrate exclusively on the abdominal muscles. During movement, you need to twist your body and round your back, and not just lower your body down.

Recommendations

Prayer is an exercise of the third level of difficulty. Before you start doing it, it’s worth mastering something simpler, for example, straight twisting on the floor, on a fitball, or reverse twisting while hanging on a horizontal bar. This will give you an understanding of exactly how to twist. It makes sense to repeat the mechanics of the movement while standing without equipment. Press your back against the wall and lower yourself, lifting vertebrae by vertebrae from the wall, this will help you work with the weight more effectively; Your shins should be completely on the floor if the exercise is performed from your knees. Those who experience discomfort in the area of the kneecap should use a rubber mat, placing it under their knees; In the rack, you should not use a spreader bar; it is better to slightly bend your knees and ensure stabilization of the body by pressing the spine to the rack.

Technique for performing the standing prayer exercise

Technically, this option is not much different from the previous one. So the twisting process is identical, however, this exercise is performed while standing.

Keep your legs slightly bent and place your feet shoulder-width apart.
Twisting is performed approximately horizontally.
When returned, the body does not fully straighten. The abdominal muscles are held in tension.
During the downward movement, exhale while exerting effort, and inhale when returning.

Implementation recommendations

Since the prayer exercise emphasizes the load on the upper abdominals, it is worth including at least one more exercise for the lower abdominals in the training process, for example, leg raises while lying on your back, on an incline bench, on a stability ball, or while hanging.

To increase muscle volume, you should choose the following training scheme: 3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions.
To reduce weight, the number of repetitions can be increased to 25. This option is suitable for women's training.

You shouldn’t start right away with the working weight. Never ignore a warm-up hike with minimal weights.

INITIAL POSITION

Approaching the top block, remember, there should be 2 normal steps left before it, take the hanging rope on the top block (the straight handle is usually held behind the head and is uncomfortable to hold), pull it down and kneel down. The cable should go diagonally upward, and not strictly vertically downward, this will ensure tension in the press at the top point, now it’s clear why you need to leave a distance to the simulator?

The abdominal muscles are tense, the head is tilted down, the back is rounded.

How to replace the exercise

You can replace the exercise with crunches on a fitball, straight crunches on the floor, or crunches on an incline bench.

There is also another good option for crunches that can replace this exercise in the gym: crunches with an upper block using an incline bench . When performing this exercise, the athlete takes a place on a bench, sitting with his back to the machine. Technically, everything is simple - the movements are identical to any twisting with weights behind the back.

How to perform abdominal crunches with body rotations?

Crunches with body rotations are an excellent exercise for working the rectus and oblique abdominal muscles. In bodybuilding, there are a large number of options for performing this exercise, but the most common of them are crunches while lying on the floor or a Roman bench.

Technique for performing crunches with body rotations

Main muscles worked: rectus abdominis and obliques.

Technique:

Take a lying position on the floor or a Roman bench: in the first case, bend your knees and place them completely on your feet, and in the second, fix your legs under the support bolsters;
Place your hands on the back of your head and lower yourself to the bottom of the exercise (if you are performing this exercise on the floor, then lower yourself to the floor; if you are using a Roman bench, then position your body parallel to the floor or slightly lower);
Begin to twist, rising upward due to the isolated effort of the abdominal muscles, while turning the body first to the left, then to the right, placing your left hand behind your right leg, and your right hand behind your left leg;
Maintain a low pace of the exercise, take a short pause at the top point of the amplitude;
Perform 3 sets of 15 reps each.

Practical recommendations

Do not use the force of inertia, but try to perform the exercise using isolated abdominal pressure;
Do not bend your neck too much, a slight rotation of the body will be enough;
Do not help yourself with your hands and do not try to touch your elbows to your legs;
When performing the exercise on a Roman bench, use a short range of motion - do not lie completely on the bench, but keep your body parallel to the floor;
When doing Roman crunches, keep your back rounded throughout the entire set.