A lot of people believe that all you need to do is crunches and you will get a rocking six-pack of abs. Unfortunately this is not the case. In fact, during the last several years many different studies have left us wondering about the efficacy of crunches at all. While there are many other exercises that can be combined with crunches if you are a die-hard believer, there are a large number that are just better — period!

Why not only crunches?

Doing the same exercise day after day will only work a certain muscle, or group of muscles in one particular way. On the other hand, varying the type of exercises that you do can optimize the growth of your muscles by having them perform in differing ways. For instance, doing crunches as opposed to sit-ups will work your abdominals in two different ways, albeit it’s a small difference, increasing your muscle’s overall growth and flexibility.

Alternatives to crunches

There are many alternatives to crunches that Midtown East personal trainers can show you. One of the other main problems that many people will mention is that just doing crunches alone gets incredibly boring. When there is no change in how your workout is done, it will not take long to reach the point where a specific exercise hits its plateau — meaning that in essence, you are only wasting your time.

One Upper East Side personal trainer might show you his or her personal combination of abdominal movements, which may include squat kick backs, crunches, and sit-ups. However, you may have others that choose to show you that a routine consisting of a lunge and press, wall slide, and plank and step combinations is a much better alternative to crunches, in their opinion, for abdominal development.

No two people exercise in exactly the same way, and what works wonders for one person may leave another feeling as if they are wasting their time to get no results. In order to be certain that your abs are strong, it will take a specialized program of muscle motions that focus on all parts of your core — including the obliques. Trial and error may be needed to judge what works best for you. Adjust your workout with the help of personal trainers in Flatiron to ensure you get the best results possible.