Crunch (exercise)

The crunch is one of the most common abdominal exercises. It primarily works the rectus abdominis muscle and also works the obliques.

Form

A crunch begins with lying face up on the floor with knees bent. The movement begins by curling the shoulders towards the pelvis. The hands can be behind or beside the neck or crossed over the chest. Injury can be caused by pushing against the head or neck with hands.

Alternatives

The difficulty of the crunch can be increased by lying on a declined bench or holding a weight under the chin, on the chest or behind the head. Crunch exercises may be performed on exercise balls. Increasing the distance will also increase the load on the abdominals due to leverage.

The curl-up is taught by spine biomechanics professor Dr. Stuart McGill, and he considers it to be a safer alternative to the crunch, which differs from the sit-up. McGill has done extensive research on the effects of crunch exercises on the back, which can be especially harmful for those rehabilitating their backs from an injury.

Crunch

Crunch may refer to:

Sport and fitness

Media

Food

Software

Other uses

See also

Role-playing game terms

Role-playing game terms are words used in a specific sense (terms) in the context of role-playing games. This includes both terms used within RPGs to describe in-game concepts and terms used to describe RPGs. Role-playing games also have specialized slang jargon associated with them.

Terms used to play role-playing games

A

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Crunch Festival

Crunch is an annual Art and Music festival that takes place in November in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. It is held by the Institute of Art and Ideas, a non-profit organization which hosts a number of cultural events throughout the year. Crunch brings together the world’s leading artists, curators and critics to debate the questions that lie at the core of contemporary art. The 3-day festival features talk sessions and debates, live music, performance acts, creative workshops, art exhibitions and late night parties.

Crunch 2011 ‘Awake in the Universe’

The festival has doubled in size and features controversial art historian Julian Stallabrass, artist Susan Hiller and postmodern painter and psychoanalyst Bracha Ettinger debating how art and creativity make us alive; Serpentine Director Hans Ulrich-Obrist on the rise of the curators and outspoken artist Jake Chapman in conversation with Paradise Row founder Nick Hackworth.

With exhibitions from galleries such as The View, the UK's contemporary art scene combines with a debate series featuring significant cultural figures such as former Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company Adrian Noble, novelist Mark Haddon and art historian Griselda Pollock.

Physical exercise

Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, and merely enjoyment. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system and helps prevent the "diseases of affluence" such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, and obesity. It may also help prevent stress and depression, help to promote or maintain positive self-esteem, improve mental health generally, and can augment an individual's sex appeal or body image, which has been found to be linked with higher levels of self-esteem.Childhood obesity is a growing global concern, and physical exercise may help decrease some of the effects of childhood and adult obesity. Some care providers call exercise the "miracle" or "wonder" drug—alluding to the wide variety of benefits that it can provide for many individuals.

Exercise (options)

The owner of an option contract has the right to exercise it, and thus require that the financial transaction specified by the contract is to be carried out immediately between the two parties, whereupon the option contract is terminated. When exercising a call option, the owner of the option purchases the underlying shares (or commodities, fixed interest securities, etc.) at the strike price from the option seller, while for a put option, the owner of the option sells the underlying to the option buyer, again at the strike price.

Styles

The option style, as specified in the contract, determines when, how, and under what circumstances, the option holder may exercise it. It is at the discretion of the owner whether (and in some circumstances when) to exercise it.

Exercise (disambiguation)

Exercise may refer to: