I have a challenging, stomach and leg burning abdominal exercise for the Home Exercise of the Week!  It’s called the V Crunch and the lactic acid build up in your abs may make you want to cry but in the end it’s worth it!

The great part of this exercise is you will be working your upper and lower abdominals at the same time as well as your hip flexors.  That being said, if you have lower back issues I recommend only lowering your legs a little bit to keep the strain off your back or keep them up throughout the movement.

Some key points to remember when doing the V Crunch:

• start by laying flat on your mat with your arms overhead and legs straight out
• slowly raise your legs up keeping them straight while at the same time raising your arms and shoulders off the mat until your hands and legs meet in the middle and hold for a second before lowering
• it’s important to keep your head in line with your spine during this move so you don’t strain your neck
• slowly lower your arms and legs back down but stop before touching the floor.  This will keep the tension on your abs throughout the exercise
• keep your abs flexed and your lower back pressed against the floor by pulling your belly button in towards your spine
• exhale as you raise your arms and legs up and inhale on your way back down

So there you have the V Crunch.  Add this in to your ab routine or throw it in to a superset and feel the tear inducing burn!