Three way crunch

Three Way Crunch Basics

Primary muscles worked: Rectus Abdominus, Obliques

Synergist Muscles: Transversus Abdominus

Mechanics: Compound

Equipment: Open Floor Space

How To Perform The Three Way Crunch

• Lay with your back flat on the floor, have your knees bent with your feet flat on the floor.
• Next, fully extend your arms and place them side by side. Your arms should be angled toward your knees.
• Now, crunch up and try and touch your right hand to your left knee, or if possible, twist and crunch more so that both of your hands are to the left of your left knee.
• Return your trunk to the floor, and crunch up again this time touching your knees.
• Again, return back to the starting position.
• From here, crunch up and try to touch your left hand to your right knee, and if possible, crunch and twist past the right knee.
• This is one full repetition.

Three Way Crunch Tips

• 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.
• Allow the movement to originate from your core muscles and do not lead upward by extending forward with your head and neck. This can cause neck strain and should be avoided for maximal exercise effectiveness.
• As with most crunching exercises, the athlete only needs to bring the trunk a few inches off of the floor.

Three Way Crunch and Sports 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. This skill requires the ability to pass the ball at different angles utilizing your upper body strength and core. The three way raise addresses these angular core patterns.