- Grasp a stirrup handle of a high pulley cable in both hands and kneel down in front of the weight stack. Pull the hands down until they are alongside the head close to one ear with the elbows bent. In this starting position, the cable should be taut.
- Inhale and hold your breath as you pull down and flex the spine by contracting the abdominals. As you round the back, rotate to the opposite side from your grip. For example, if your grip is by your right ear, rotate to the left. Round and then twist your spine as much as possible.
- Be sure to hold the hands in position alongside your head during the execution.
- After reaching the bottom position, hold momentarily and then exhale and return under control to the initial upright kneeling position.
- Pause momentarily, inhale and repeat in the same manner.
- If desired, instead of doing repetitions only to one side, change your grip to the opposite side execute the same way. Alternate the direction of rotation on each repetition.
TRAINING TIPS:
- Alternating the spinal flexion and rotation to opposite sides on each repetition is a preferred variant as it helps to decrease the stress placed on the spine. Note that rotating the spine when you are in a flexed spinal position creates shearing forces on the discs, especially if you rotate through a great range of motion when the spine is maximally flexed.
- To prevent the buildup of shearing forces, concentrate on flexing the spine as in a simple crunch and adding a twist at the end. This will create a stronger contraction of the obliques, which is the main purpose of the rotation.
- To get a stronger initial contraction, face away from the weight stack and position yourself slightly in front of the overhead cable pulley. In this position you can arch the back slightly before beginning the crunch movement. The arching of the back places the abdominal muscles on stretch so that they can contract with even greater force when you do the exercise.
- The oblique cable crunch allows you to go through a greater range of motion than most crunch exercises. Not only do you involve the thoracic but also the lumbar spine so that you get maximal shortening of the entire abdominal wall muscles.
- If you go through an extreme range of motion and spine flexion, save the twisting until you are more than halfway down in the crunch. If you twist earlier it becomes impossible to go through as great a range of motion.
MAJOR MUSCLES INVOLVED: The abdominal muscle group includes the rectus abdominis, external oblique and internal oblique. The rectus abdominis is a long, slender muscle running vertically across the abdominal wall. It starts on the pubis bone and ends on the cartilages of the 5th, 6th and 7th ribs. The rectus abdominis has a right and left half, separated by a parallel tendonous strip. The fibers run parallel to one another and are crossed by three tendonous intersections which provide the divisions usually seen when one has a “ripped” mid-section.
The external oblique muscle covers the sides and front of the abdomen from the rectus abdominis to the latissimus dorsi muscle. The fibers run diagonally upward and sideward from the lower attachment on both sides of the abdomen and form the letter “V”. The internal oblique is located directly underneath the external oblique. At the upper end its fibers run at nearly right angles to the external oblique, forming an inverted “V”. (At the lower end close to the pubis, the fibers are almost horizontal.)
MUSCLE AND JOINT ACTIONS: In the oblique cable crunch, the three abdominal muscles responsible for movement participate in flexion and rotation, mainly of the lower spine. In this action the upper body (trunk) bends forward and twists as it moves toward the lower body.
SPORTS USES: For bodybuilders, the oblique crunch is very important for total development of the abdominals and to get the needed muscle definition especially of the obliques. In addition, any athlete who must handle heavy loads overhead needs strong abdominals (and a strong back) to help maintain a firm mid-section.
This exercise is important in many sports that require spinal flexion and rotation with the trunk in motion. Examples can be found in the baseball pitch, football pass for distance, tennis serve and overhead, badminton smash, javelin throw, soccer throw-in, volleyball spike, and other sports that require overhead throwing or hitting. It is also very important for gymnasts, swimmers, acrobats, divers, wrestlers and martial arts performers in execution of many skills and stunts.