questions about exercises

[trainingtime]

i'm doing stage 1, and i have two questions:

the jackknife crunches on the swiss ball are really easy for me...as are the reverse crunches. i can do 8 reps no problem. should i do them on an incline bench? or what else can i do?

also, the swiss ball crunch is easy to do 8 reps, as well. i added a 25lb plate today...which made it a little harder....but still can do 8 no problem.


any suggestions??

[nutbar]

For the jackknives, did you try this version yet? YouTube - Swiss Ball Prone Jackknife

For the Swiss ball crunches, try elevating your feet on a step. That was suggested to me recently and it's much more difficult.

[pursuingpurls]

Originally Posted by nutbar

For the jackknives, did you try this version yet? YouTube - Swiss Ball Prone Jackknife

For the Swiss ball crunches, try elevating your feet on a step. That was suggested to me recently and it's much more difficult.

Once I started to put my butt higher in the air the jackknifes became a lot harder and I could only do 8 - this might help you increase the intensity of them I think. And that's a great suggestion for the crunches as well.

[Lisa~]

Progressing from a swiss ball jackknife to a swiss ball pike (like the video nutbar linked) is a great suggestion.

Elevating your feet for the swiss ball crunch adds difficulty because it reduces balance, but I'd probably choose to add load instead. Do the long arm version described in the book. Hold that 25 lb plate at arm's length.

[trainingtime]

veeery helpful. thanks, ladies! i will try those suggestions...

[Emoore]

You'd be surprised how much more difficult the jackknifes are if you support your upper body with on your knuckles instead of flat hands (like a knuckle pushup). You can increase intensity on the swiss ball crunches by doing them with one foot lifted an inch or two off the floor.