When done correctly, bike crunches are a tummy killer, turning on your obliques and famous six-pack muscles. In fact, the American Council on Exercise ranks this abdominal exercise among its top three for a good routine.
But this move requires more attention to detail than you might think. And if your technique and posture are not adequate, you will not get the most out of this incredible exercise.
How to do bicycle crunches? Correct technique
- Begin by lying on your back with your knees bent 90 degrees over your hips and your hands clasped behind your head or at the sides of your face.
- Exhale and round your spine, lifting your head and shoulders off the ground.
- Turn your torso and bring your left knee in so that your right elbow touches it.
- Twist in the opposite direction so that your left elbow meets your right knee.
What muscles do you work?
The movement activates the muscles of the abdomen better than 12 other exercises, including the traditional crunch, a crunch with the legs in the air and several “machines” of abdominal exercises. While no abdominal exercise comprehensively addresses every muscle in the abdomen, the bike crunch comes close.
Abdominal muscles
The bike crunch lifts your torso and contracts your abs in the same way as a normal crunch. Therefore, the muscles of the rectus abdominis, the famous front tablet of the abdominals that form the ” six pack ” muscles, are activated. This muscle has an upper and lower region, both of which come into play, especially during the twisting portion of the bicycle’s contraction movement.
The external obliques , the muscles on the sides of the waist, are also activated as you rotate your body to bring one shoulder to the opposite knee. These muscles rotate the torso from side to side and help it tilt the waist to the sides. Strong obliques also contribute to a stable, well-aligned spine.
Quadriceps: hip activation
The rectus femoris , located in the middle of the upper thigh, is one of the four quadriceps muscles. Helps to extend the knee and hip as you “pedal” during movement.
The standard crunch doesn’t provide much activation for this muscle. This muscle crosses the hip joint, so the bicycle contraction could aggravate the strain on the hip flexors in some people.
Intercostals: the respiratory muscle
Between the ribs are muscles known as intercostals. They help build the chest wall and rotate the torso during the bike crunch. They also help lift and put pressure on the ribs.
You work these muscles to help develop better breathing capacity, allowing you to take in more oxygen to deliver to the working muscles with each breath. You may not see a defined tablet when working the intercostals, but you will feel it when breathing heavily when lifting heavy weights or running uphill.
Benefits of this exercise
Why are bicycle abs in the Top 3 of core exercises? Obviously, this simple exercise contains numerous benefits.
They strengthen the body
A strong abdomen helps your body and your overall health in a number of ways.
Strengthen your core muscles and you’ll notice better endurance (great for workouts or just busy days running errands), better posture, less back pain, and less risk of injury.
They give visible results faster
This exercise targets the muscles in the abdominal region directly, called the rectus abdominis and obliques. When we train any muscle, we develop strength and hypertrophy (size). If the abdominal muscles have better definition, they will reveal themselves more easily as we lose body fat.
However, bike crunches and muscle targeting do not burn body fat in localized areas. I mean, you can’t get rid of belly fat even if you do 200 sit-ups every day. But practice a full-body approach (that is, a balance between adjusting your diet, cardio, and strength training) and you’ll see your body fat gradually decrease.
Increase coordination
Movements that force you to use opposite arms and legs at the same time, such as the crunch, can help improve your coordination. Do you want to make it more challenging? Close your eyes and notice the abdominal work well.
The worst mistakes in bike crunch
Neck straps
If your neck hurts during bike crunches, something is wrong with your posture. Pulling the neck is the number one problem we often see within this movement sequence.
Stressing your neck not only causes discomfort, it also makes your abs work less. People tend to grasp or cling with such tension that in fact they never really activate the cross-body focus of this exercise.
Rather than grasping the back of your neck with both hands, simply think of resting your hands on the sides of your head with the intention that this position is simply a location for your hands rather than a trigger for movement.
You close your chest
Closing the chest can cause neck discomfort and spinal curvature, which is not ideal for most core movements. And while it’s easy to collapse your chest (and elbows), especially when you’re fatigued, this limits your range of motion and therefore oblique work.
Interlock your fingers gently behind your head as you roll your shoulders back, creating an expansion in the chest to activate the full contraction of the exercise without any effort.
You don’t push through your heels
Although the bike crunch focuses on your abs, it is no excuse to let your feet and legs relax and loosen. Pressing with the heels allows you to activate cross stabilization. That keeps everything engaged and ensures that all of your muscles are activated to their full potential.
Adding a two-second pause to the top of the contraction is a great reminder to drive with your heels and move your legs with intention.
You speed up the movement
If you ride like you’re trying to do public relations in a bike race, you’re kidding yourself. People tend to do bicycle crunches rather than developing a proper base for movement.
And when you do it fast, you rely on momentum (not muscle) and decrease time under tension. In other words, you don’t get the maximum benefits. Going too fast can also lead to lifting or swaying your hips. But to effectively work your core, your hips must be stable and in place.
Pausing at the top of the movement or incorporating a tempo (for example, holding 2 seconds before switching legs) can remind you to slow down and activate your core muscles.
You arch your lower back
Does your lower back lift off the mat when you bike crunch? This can put pressure and strain on your back and hips. And if you do it often enough, it can lead to back pain.
Always think about digging your belly button into the spine, which in simpler terms is bending your belly button inward. It is also important to press your lower back toward the ground.
Lastly, make sure your legs are slightly higher than your hips. Your back will tend to arch if your legs are too close to the ground, especially if you haven’t developed enough core strength yet.
You move the elbow to the knee
When you swing your elbow to reach your knee, you are not actually using your abs to perform the crunch. Instead, you are forcing the cross-activation move rather than effectively working through the pattern.
Additionally, you may also experience discomfort or tension in your lumbar (lower back) area.
