Bicycle Crunch
oec:bicycle-crunch
A supine bodyweight abdominal exercise combining spinal flexion, trunk rotation, and alternating leg extension to target the rectus abdominis and obliques.
Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.
Also called: Bicycle Crunches, Air Bike, Bicycle
How to do it
Setup
- Lie face up on the floor with your lower back pressed gently into the ground.
- Place your fingertips lightly behind your ears or temples, keeping your elbows pointed outward.
- Lift your shoulder blades slightly off the floor and raise both legs, bending your hips and knees to approximately 90 degrees.
Movement
- Simultaneously extend one leg straight out at a 45-degree angle while drawing the opposite knee in toward your chest.
- Rotate your torso to bring the opposite armpit and shoulder toward the raised knee, keeping your elbows wide.
- Pause briefly to contract the abdominals, then smoothly reverse the motion by switching legs and rotating your torso to the other side.
- Continue alternating sides in a smooth, rhythmic, pedaling motion.
Breathing
Exhale as you rotate your torso toward the knee, and inhale as you transition through the center.
Cues
- Rotate shoulder to knee, not elbow to knee
- Keep elbows flared wide
- Glue your lower back to the mat
Common faults
- Pulling on the neck with the hands, causing cervical strain.
- Rest only your fingertips against your head without pulling, or cross your arms over your chest.
- Flapping the elbows across the face to touch the knee instead of rotating the torso.
- Keep elbows fixed wide in your peripheral vision and drive the rotation from your ribcage and shoulders.
- Moving rapidly using momentum rather than muscular control.
- Slow the tempo down, holding each rotational peak for a brief one-count.
Safety
- Avoid this movement if you experience sharp lower back pain or severe spinal flexion intolerance.
Muscles
Joints
- Lumbar spine: Flexion, Rotation
- Thoracic spine: Flexion, Rotation
- Cervical spine: Isometric stabilization
- Hip: Flexion, Extension
- Knee: Flexion, Extension
Details
- Movement
- Rotation, Spinal flexion
- Modality
- Calisthenics, Hypertrophy
- Mechanics
- compound
- Force
- not applicable
- Laterality
- alternating
- Kinetic chain
- open
- Level
- beginner
- Equipment
- None
- Record
- Repetitions; or Duration
- Load
- bodyweight
Related
- variation of Crunch
- progression of Crunch
- substitute for Russian Twist
- substitute for Twisting Sit-Up
Sources
- wger: bicycle crunches, by hpmbala@gmail.com (CC-BY-SA-4.0)
This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.