Ab exercies/sit ups and crunches

[_sophie_]

I want to get some abs going on!! Hahaha so tried doing crunches today and I'm going to try doing them every night. I did 300, but I don't know if they were proper crunches... they definitely weren't sit ups anyway. I just find them really hard though.. it strains my neck so badly it's really sore. I did this class at the gym and they do really good for abs and the guy always says to keep your elbows far apart and I did try but it still really really hurts my neck. Any tips? How do i get into full sit ups if just crunches are hurting this much!? Also, any other exercises to tone your stomach other than this kind which I may find helpful? Thanks for any help!

[237SJ]

I`ve tried sit-ups and crunches over the years but I never remember to keep them up and I get bored with repetitive exercise. Someone told me there is an exercise for the stomach called The Plank. Maybe that might work for you. When I used to do sit-ups at the gym they said the secret is to keep looking up to the ceiling so that your neck straight and not bent towards your chest.

[_sophie_]

Thanks, yeah I used to do the plank sometimes at hockey training but I thought it was for all over really.. not focussing on abs but I will start doing it again!! I also just found out that just lying on your side and lifting your leg apparently works the muscles further down your stomach wheras crunches do the further up ones!? Not sure if this is true but hey I'll give it a go too! Thanks for the neck advice, I got that from the gym too but it still didn't really help maybe I'm just doing it wrong lol