SETUP: Climb into a Captain’s Chair and grab the handles. Most machines will feel comfortable with a 90* angle at the elbow. Keep your feet together and make sure you always have a slight bend at the knees.
REP: Pull your legs up and back. Instead of aiming for the traditional 90 degree angle shown in magazines, I want you to aim HIGHER. You see, the hip flexors will do most of the work in the bottom phase of each rep. When we get the legs above a 90* angle, the abs become the target muscle.
TIP: Breathe out as you peform each ‘crunch’, it will allow you to get a better squeeze in the abs. Also, notice in the video how I tilt my pelvis forward at the top of each rep? This allows me to really draw my knees close to my chest, making the most of that squeeze at the top of everp rep.