Start/Finish
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Midpoint
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Caution: Placing the hands on the collar bones or chest doesn't provide as good a
contraction as performing the exercise with the hands resting on the sides of the head.
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Start Position
Position yourself on a decline bench set at about a 30-degree angle, "hooking"
your feet under the foot bar, so your knees are bent at about a 90-degree angle.
Put your hands at the sides of your head, and relax your neck. Your starting
position is not with your back against the bench but from just south of
perpendicular to the bench (as this is a crunch, not a sit-up—see the photo to
the left).
The Movement
Slowly curl your chest up toward your thighs, contract in the top position, and
slowly return to the starting position, without going any lower than
perpendicular to the bench. As it's nearly impossible to look at your midsection
on this exercise, keep your eyes fixed on your knees.
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A variation on a traditional crunch, the decline crunch is more difficult as the
angle increases the resistance. If your lower back tightens up during the
exercise, lower the amount of decline, or adjust the part of the bench you hook
your knees around.
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"Hinge" from the middle of your abs, not from your hips.
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If you don't have a decline bench, try putting a couple of plates under the end
of a flat bench or "hook" one end of a flat bench over a racked barbell or Smith
machine.
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Contracting your hamstrings will entirely deactivate your psoas or hip flexor
muscles, maximizing the load on your abs.
Cautions
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Make sure you don't jerk your head forward and back.
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Don't go all the way back until your back touches the bench—this places the
stress on the hip flexors and can strain the lower back.
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