i've been on the exercise bandwagon for about a month now. i've been doing the biggest loser workouts, watp, and occasionally using a stability ball.

i still can't do crunches. not any kind. not the normal ones, or the side ones or even the reverse crunches. it's starting to make me feel discouraged. i can do about 4 of each of those and them i'm toast and i start to feel nauseaus. also i always find myself lifting with my hands, not with my body/core, know what i mean?

does the weight have to come off first before i'll be able to do them properly? or is it just a techinique i'll have to learn? any ideas? any easier versions of crunches to get me started?

i can't do push ups either, but i'm okay with that for now...

I have been doing crunches on my stability ball and it is a lot easier. I am still doing these but have just started adding floor crunches too. (just a few,lol)

Carrie -- Eventually you WILL be able to do crunches, patience and practice is key. For example, I have been swimming laps, or trying to do so, since September 05. I have just, just started to do 2 full laps!! AND I consider myself to be in fairly good shape, I run 10k, have been doing cardio and weights for 20 years! But because it was something new to my body and me it took me 6 MONTHS to get just the hang of it, it will take me years to master it I'm sure... Just keep at it, eventually it will get easier, as you get in better shape...Hope this helps and keep us posted...

dont worry too much, it took me ages to do situps without feeling nauseated from it too. but now i can do it, and keep up with the rest of the class. As for the push ups, do what you can, this week I managed to do one proper push up. I'll keep working on it, its great for the arms.

You will be able to do them in time, so don't give up! Keep practicing and if the ball makes your abs muscles contract and do more work for you, then keep those up. Yuo can use the ball for lower crunches (and this is the only way I can do them right noand I cannot lift my hips off the ground-_ lie on your backroll the ball so your hamstrings/calves are holding the ball as tight as needed so slipping does not occur. Now try to lift the ball off the floor with your abs- just try- you don't have to get it off the floor and you may feel this in you hip flexors until the transverse abs become stronger.
Have you thought of trying some pilates movements in place of crunches? the roll down, done with a modification is great- simply sit on your sit bones keeping your shoulders down and spine straight, have your legs in front of you as far as you can get your feet to be comfortably on the floor without scrunching them up to your torso, place a yoga block, book, ball, or pillow right between your legs and squeeze as hard as you can to engage your inner thighs (or leave out the object and press your thighs together.) From here hold your navel in like a mattresss button and extend your arms at shoulder height directly in front of you. Now roll slowly down, vertabra by vertebra, but do not come down to the floor-go back as far as you comfortably can thencome back up vertebra by vertabra. If the arm extensions are too diffcult, place your hands on the floor and allow them to assist gently until your strenght builds up in the ab muscle.
Also when you are doing your cardio, be sure to hold the abs in (don't just forget them and let 'em just kinda hang out, actively engage them.)
If you want to work your obliques (waist muscles) I have 2 moves 1 standing, 1 sitting on a 14 inch step/chair- the ball is ok, but it will make the move harder. For the standing movement, hold a broom/mop/or very light dumbell overhead with arms fully extended, but elbows not locked, hold your navel in like a mattress button, anchor your feet, just at hip width- keep your knees soft, now tilt to the left then come back to center. Now tilt to the right and come back. The movement should be slow and controlled- not jerky, and not like you are a pendulum. You might only go 1/4 inch to each side in the beginning- that is ok- you are not trying to tilt out to a certain degree- you want to have one obliqe being contracted and the opposite stretched. The side that is being stretched, should be the one to help bring you back up to center.
The sitting movement is very much the same, except I want you to sit up stright, no weights or dowel/mop/broom. Place your legs in a position for a sitting inner thigh stretch. Make sure you hold those abs in, and keep your feet grounded- now with one hand placed behind the head, extend the opposite arm at shoulder height to the side. Ready- the arm that is extended will be the contracting side- so tilt to that side of the body and try to touch the ground with your fingers. Do not let your hips come up from your stool/chair or ball, do not actually move your arm to touch the ground- the movemment is all in the waist. Go as far as you can without lifting your hips off the stool. Do not force this- in time you can touch the floor and this does seem easy, but the next day you can feel it.
Do you lift weights? If so, hold the ab muscles in while lifting weights. This ensures that your lower back is supported and your core engaged.
Good luck and don't give up!

I don't usually endorse stuff, but I think my "abroller" thingy has helped, and they're not too expensive (like $20). When I have no tolerance for crunches (and am horribly out of shape) it gets the motion going, and it doesn't feel too hard. Then eventually, you're doing sets of 10, 20, 40... and then you can do them on the machines with 85 lbs of resistance, on the stability ball, hanging from your ankles...

But I think my abroller helped as a "gateway" into ab exercises by helping me with the motion when my abs were weak.

--Janis

thanks ladies. i'm going to keep plugging away for a while.

honestly i find crunches just as hard on the stability ball as on the floor. le sigh.

don't abandon that. If you stick to doing crunches eventually you'll be able that's true. Sometimes it kills you but keep practising. It's like push-ups, at first, I wasn't able to do more than 10 and now I can do like 30 in a row.

Don't worry, in time you'll strengthen those muscles and you'll be doing crunches. Until you get stronger, why not do something I call "pre-crunches"? You can do them standing, sitting, walking, or even lying down, so you're building strength without having to fight gravity the way you would in a real crunch.

Pull in your tummy and tighten your abs as much as you can, hold for ten or fifteen seconds (but don't forget to breathe!), then relax. Repeat several times. Do three or four sets throughout the day. It sounds simple, and it takes very little time, but after a couple of weeks, you should start noticing some increase in ab strength. Just remember not to hold your breath while you're holding your tummy in.