Work Out With Denise Austin: Bicycle Crunch

Try This Today

• Watch the video above to follow Denise Austin’s Bicycle Crunch demonstration.
• Lie on your back. Lift your head and shoulders, and alternate hugging in each knee, while elevating the straight leg. Do 20 on each side.
• Add the waistline twist when you feel ready. As you are pedaling your legs, place hands at the sides of your head and twist at the waist, trying to touch the opposite knee with your elbow.
• Adapt the exercise to suit your level of fitness. For example, beginners may need to keep the straight leg on the ground, wait to add the waistline twist, or do fewer repetitions until more strength is built up.

Why

The Bicycle Crunch works your core (abs and back muscles) and your obliques (side muscles). A strong core is important for getting out of a chair, lifting a grocery bag and going up stairs — and for reducing your risk of falling. Core-strengthening activities helped posture and balance more than standard strengthening exercises in a study of 20 people in their 70s, reported in 2015 in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science.