How Many Crunches A Day? The Answer Revealed By Expert 2024

How many crunches a day should you do to get abs? The benefits of crunches extend from improving muscle definition to increasing core strength. Doing a 30-day ab challenge can drastically impact your abdominal muscles to improve strength and increase muscle. 

Crunches are a bodyweight exercise that can be performed at home, in the gym, or just about anywhere. Lifters can use them to strengthen their core to promote stability in the trunk and protect the spine. Lifters must understand that performing crunches alone can’t build abs but a combination of diet and exercise can. 

This article will detail how lifters can build abs using core exercises like crunches and balanced nutrition. 

How Many Crunches A Day?

How many crunches a day do you need to do to get abs? This isn’t an easy question to answer, but below, we’ll discuss more information on why. 

To Get Abs

Want to know how many crunches a day to get abs? Unfortunately, there isn’t a definite answer to this question. This is because other factors determine whether you will get abs from this exercise. 

If you have belly fat and want to use crunches to spot-reduce, you must find another approach. Genetics plays a prominent role in how our bodies react to a dietary plan or exercise regimen. It can also affect where our body pulls fat from, hence why spot-reducing fat is ineffective. 

Either way, crunches improve core strength, even if you don’t get abs from it. Core training, in general, has been shown to improve athletic performance by increasing stability, strength, and mobility. Incorporating core exercises like crunches can help promote these benefits in athletic and daily activities. 

You can start by incorporating crunches into your workout routine to strengthen your abdominals. Perform 2–3 sets of 10–25 crunches a few times weekly. As you grow stronger, you can decrease the rest time in between sets or add weight to the crunch. 

If you want to use crunches to get abs, other factors need to be taken into consideration, including:

• Body fat percentage.
• Diet.
• Exercise. 
• Activity level. 
• Genetics. 

Each one of these factors has a prominent role in determining a lifter’s success in getting abs to show off. 

Other Factors To Consider

Body Fat Percentage

The most common determining factor for visible abs is body fat percentage. If a lifter’s body fat percentage is too high, their abs may be hidden by fat. 

Body fat percentage typically needs to be at a certain level for the abs to be seen. This varies by gender and by person due to differences in genetics, but typically it is as follows:

• Females — 14–20%.
• Males — 6–13%.

Genetics can determine how you carry weight and how fat is distributed affecting results. For example, one woman may carry more weight in her thighs while another may carry more weight in her stomach. This may mean the woman who carries more weight around her stomach may have to work harder to shed fat. 

Diet

Another factor that plays into how successful crunches are to achieve abs is diet. How you eat can drastically affect whether you gain, maintain, or lose fat and muscle.

As discussed previously, a person’s body fat percentage can greatly determine whether abs can be visible. If the body fat percentage is too high, the fat will prevent abdominal muscles from showing. Eating in a caloric surplus, or more than your body needs, causes weight gain. 

Some lifters purposefully enter a caloric surplus with targeted macronutrients to encourage muscle mass growth. Other lifters enter a caloric deficit, or less than the body needs, to promote fat or weight loss. They also prioritize macronutrients, like protein, to maintain lean muscle mass and encourage body fat loss. 

Entering a caloric deficit can help lifters who have higher body fat percentages be beneficial in producing abs. While in a caloric deficit, eating a high-protein diet is beneficial for decreasing fat mass and preserving lean body mass. Remember that caloric deficits are not meant to be long-term, as they can cause symptoms like fatigue, dehydration, and nausea. 

Target Other Abdominal Muscles

Crunches utilize a few different muscles in the core to enable movement and support stability in the trunk. The body hones five main abdominal muscles, including:

• Pyramidalis — A small, triangular abdominal muscle found at the pubic bone in front of the rectus abdominis. It is considered a mystery in science concerning its functions and abnormalities. 
• Internal Obliques — Found underneath the external obliques, this abdominal muscle is located on the sides of the abdomen. It supports trunk movement and compression in the abdomen for stability. 
• External Obliques — The largest and most superficial of the flat abdominal wall muscles are the external obliques. It enables movement in the back and spine. 
• Rectus Abdominis — Referred to as the six-pack, the rectus abdominis makes up the top layer of the abdominal muscles. It helps flex the spine and move the space between the pelvis and ribcage. 
• Transversus Abdominis — As the deepest of the abdominal muscles, the transversus abdominis is crucial for trunk stabilization. It is a broad muscle needed for maintaining internal abdominal pressure and support for the organs. 

The crunch exercise primarily engages the rectus abdominis and obliques, helping to strengthen them. Although the rectus abdominis creates that six-pack appearance, it is important to strengthen the other abdominal muscles. This will help stabilize the trunk and protect the spine to improve form and muscle engagement. 

Alternatives

There are numerous alternatives other than the crunch that can be used to target other muscles in the core. They can be used alongside crunches to improve core strength and encourage muscle growth in the abdominal muscles. Here are some quality alternatives to crunches:

• Hanging Leg Raise — One of the top compound ab exercises, the hanging leg raise, engages the hip flexors, shoulders, and abdominal muscles. It can help improve core stability and strength, athletic performance, and muscle definition by engaging the abdominal muscles. 
• Bird Dog — One of the top ab workouts at home, the bird dog, is a dynamic stabilization core exercise. It activates muscles like the external obliques to strengthen the core and improve posture.  
• Dead Bug — A core stabilization exercise, the dead bug can improve core mobility and strength. It can be performed with or without added weight to manage intensity levels. 
• Ab Wheel Rollout — The ab wheel rollout is a compound movement that utilizes multiple muscle groups. It works the obliques, shoulders, and lower back to increase core strength and endurance. 
• Plank Hold — A popular ab exercise, the plank hold can be easily modified to adjust to a lifter’s fitness level. It targets various muscles in the core and shoulders. 

Safety Precautions

With any type of exercise, certain safety precautions should be taken into account. This is to deter any potential injury risks or safety risks that can arise. Here are some safety precautions to consider when performing crunches or any type of exercise:

• Rest & Recover — Crunches should not be performed every day. The muscles need time to recover and repair to grow stronger. If not given the appropriate recovery time, at least 24 hours, the risk of muscle strain or tear increases. 
• Prioritize Proper Form And Technique — Correct form and quality technique should be enforced to properly engage the targeted muscle groups. Performing exercises incorrectly can raise the risk of injury, muscular imbalances, and strain on the joints and muscles. 
• Emphasize Mind-To-Muscle Connection — While performing any exercise, it is crucial to emphasize mind-to-muscle connection as this can improve muscle engagement. In the crunch exercise, think of using the abdominal muscles to perform the movement pattern. 
• Use Good Breathing Technique — Another important aspect of exercising is your breathing technique. In the eccentric or lowering portion of the exercise, inhale to feed oxygen to the muscles. On the concentric or lifting portion of the movement, exhale to tense the abdominal muscles to protect the spine. 

Conclusion

How many crunches a day do you need to do to get abs? Unfortunately, there is no set answer to this question.

Various factors can determine whether a lifter can procure abs from performing crunches. The main determining factor is body fat percentage, as too much body fat can hide the abs. Although performing ab exercises like crunches can improve core strength, they alone can’t cause abs to reveal themselves underneath fat. 

Frequently Asked Questions