Crunch Pulldowns For a Great Six-Pack

The Crunch Pulldown is a very simple exercise to do, perfect for hitting the abs in a way they're not used to at all. For this one, all you need is a high pulley and a bar attachment.

Hook up the bar to the pulley and set a moderate weight on it. You don't want to go too heavy or you won't be able to perform the exercise. After you do it once, you'll get a better idea of how much weight you can use.

Lie on your back under the pulley. In my own gym, I have an adjustable-height pulley and have it set a few feet off the ground so all I have to do is reach up and grab the bar. If you have just a regular, unmoveable high pulley, the exercise will work exactly the same way but you'll have to grab the bar first THEN lie down in position rather than lying down first then reaching up and grabbing the bar.

Once you're on your back (with your head directly under the pulley), pull the bar down so that your elbows are bent about 90 degrees. Your knees should be bent 90 degrees and feet placed flat on the floor. The bar should be 8 to 12 inches above your body. That's the start position.

Now crunch up. But here's the trick - as you're crunching up, DO NOT use the weight to help pull yourself up. Instead, perform a pulldown movement as you're crunching up. To do this, just pull the bar down towards your lower chest until it touches your lower chest, all while crunching up.

So not only do you get the normal tension from the crunch movement, you're also getting tension on the abs using the weight from the pulldown movement. This really fires up the six-pack muscles to help them stand out. It's a unique angle of resistance that your abs have probably never felt before!

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of BetterU, Inc., an internet- based personal training company. He has been training for more than 14 years and has been a personal trainer for more than 8 years. He is the author of the training eBooks "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of", "Gluteus to the Maximus" and "Specialization Training". Go to his Web site for more information on these books.

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