How and why do you do a butterfly crunch?

The butterfly crunch is an excellent exercise to strengthen the abdominal muscles.

It works the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, latissimus dorsi, and hip flexors.

The butterfly exercise also uses your lower back muscles and allows you to strengthen your hip mobility

1. Sit on the floor and put yourself in a butterfly position: open your knees with the soles of your feet touching each other.
2. Be careful not to tilt your head forward throughout the exercise. Keep it aligned with your neck.
3. Lie down and put your arms behind your head. Keep your arms straight and your hands close together.
4. Tighten your hip flexors and engage your abdominal muscles to lift your upper body up and forward. Lift your upper body off the ground and extend your arms forward.
5. Move your arms forward until they can touch the floor or your feet.
6. Return to the starting position by lying down.
7. Repeat the movement until you complete the required number of repetitions.

Training tips

• Make sure your hips remain in contact with the floor throughout the exercise.
• If you don't bend your body and keep your back straight, you will mainly be working your hip flexors.
• If you perform repetitions too quickly without following this technique, your hip may not be in contact with the floor.
• Too explosive repetitions can also throw your balance off balance.
• If you have a lot of strength in your abdominal muscles, you can hold a medicine ball in your hands during the movement to intensify the exercise.