Exercise description of the three way crunch.  Learn about the three way crunch with videos, pictures, and other sports information.  Also learn how the three way crunch can increase your sports skills.

Primary muscles worked:  Rectus Abdominus, Obliques

Synergist Muscles:  Transversus Abdominus

Mechanics:  Compound

Equipment:  Open Floor Space

How to perform the exercise:  Lay with back flat on the floor, have the knees bent, and feet flat on the floor. Next, have the arms in full extension and together and reaching towards the knees. Next, crunch up and try and touch the right hand to the left knee, and if possible go past the left knee. Return the trunk to the floor, and crunch up again this time touching the knees. Again, return back to the starting position. From here, crunch up and try to touch the left hand to the right knee, and if possible past the right knee. This is one full repetition. The athlete can either perform the next rep by starting back left to right, or may alternate to a right to left approach. This is a subtle variation that can extend the effectiveness of the lift. As with most crunching exercises, the athlete only needs to bring the trunk a few inches off of the floor.

Spotting the exercise:  The spotter for the three way crunch should be involved in critiquing form and making sure that the athlete keeps the chin tucked to avoid excessive use of the neck to assist with the lift.

Sport specific application:  A solid core is an important foundation in all sports. All movement is connected to the core, and because of that taking the body through a wide variety of angles is key to overall performance gains. The three way crunch is an excellent exercise for addressing deliberate angular skills in sports, for example, the chest pass in basketball.