To Crunch or Not to Crunch

The most heated argument in strength and conditioning today is to crunch or not to
crunch. It's bewildering that this seemingly harmless, short ROM exercise could create
such a rift between so many smart strength and conditioning professionals, yet the great
crunch debate rages on.
At the center is research showing that repeated spinal flexion using cadaveric porcine
spines resulted in herniated discs. This in vitro research seems to indicate that lumbar
flexion is a potent herniating mechanism, and anti-crunch proponents have extrapolated
from the data that humans possess a limited number of flexion cycles throughout their
lifetimes.
Accordingly, they've gone out on a limb and recommended that spinal flexion exercises
such as the crunch be avoided at all costs. While this may seem logical on the surface,
there's more to this topic than meets the eye.
Someone needs to step up and grow some balls and address the 2000-pound gorilla
soiling the carpet. We know dozens of respected strength coaches, physical therapists,
personal trainers, researchers, and professors that all have serious doubts about the danger
of crunches, yet none wish to discuss it out of fear of being chastised.
The line must be drawn here!

Fitness is Religion
Humans have a basic need to fall into camps, rally behind a leader, believe in
supernatural phenomena, and rebel against scientific principles. Throughout history
scientists have been punished for questioning current dogma. Sadly, it's no different in the
fitness industry.
Many fitness professionals have been seeking a culprit for low back pain and jumped
aboard the anti-crunch bandwagon without question. These folks have adopted absurdly
rigid views of the lumbar spine, believing that you should go through life moving this
region as little as possible to spare insult to the spine, to the point of altering normal
biomechanics in daily living.
Taking it a step further, they then intimidate others into jumping on the bandwagon and
get downright emotional when confronted on the topic.
This is the antithesis of scientific thinking. We're just happy that we won't be house-
imprisoned like Galileo for hypothesizing that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe.
After delving into the topic, reviewing the literature, and applying our critical thinking
skills, we've concluded that like every other exercise, a reasonable dose of spinal flexion
exercise is potentially good for you and need not be avoided.
We presented our position in a review paper published in the Strength & Conditioning
Journal and while we won't rehash everything in the article, we do continue to question
the recent "anti-crunch" movement and suggest a plausible alternative theory.
In our journal article we addressed the following issues, which will only be succinctly
summarized below.
For more detailed explanations and citations, we encourage you to pull up the article and
read it in its entirety.

Methodological Issues in Research Against Lumbar

Flexion Exercise
Removal of muscle. The experiments used in the studies used to refute lumbar flexion
exercise used porcine (pig) cervical spines with muscles removed, which alters spinal
biomechanics.
No fluid flow in cadavers. Cadaveric spines don't function the same as living spines as
fluid doesn't flow back into the discs as it does when tissue is alive.
Range of motion in porcine spine. Porcine cervical spines have smaller flexion and
extension ranges of motion than human lumbar spines.
Doesn't mimic crunch exercise regimen. When most people do crunches, they might do a
few sets of 10 to 20 reps or so and then wait a couple of days before repeating. This
allows the discs to repair and remodel. In the studies used to bash lumbar flexion,
thousands of nonstop cycles were performed, which does not replicate a strength and
conditioning regimen. It should also be noted that cadaveric spines do not remodel while
living spines do.
Genetics. In the world of intervertebral disc degeneration, the role of genetics is huge. It
appears that some individuals are quite prone to disc issues while others are not,
suggesting that optimal programming would require knowledge of genetic traits.
Range of motion in the crunch exercise. Many years ago, an NSCA journal article
described proper performance of the crunch exercise, which involved 30 degrees of total
trunk flexion, most of this motion occurring in the thoracic spine, not the lumbar spine. If
the lumbar spine doesn't approach end range flexion in the crunch exercise, then the
studies wouldn't be applicable to the crunch exercise.
IAP controversy. There's a chance that models used to estimate compressive forces during
the crunch have been overestimated due to failure to take into account the role of intra-
abdominal pressure (IAP). If this is the case, then the studies could have used too much
compression along with range of motion mentioned earlier, which would render the
studies inapplicable to crunching. However, there's conflicting research in this area and
it's likely that the effect isn't significant.

Potential Benefits of Lumbar Flexion Exercise

Increased fluid flow and nutrition to posterior disc. Lumbar flexion enhances nutrient
delivery to discs by increasing nutrient-carrying fluids to the discs.
Increased remodeling of tissue. Proper doses of spinal flexion likely strengthens the disc
tissues, which would therefore increase tolerance to lumbar flexion exercise and prevent
future injury.
Sagittal plane mobility. Some studies have linked lack of spinal mobility to low back
pain, however the literature is somewhat contradictory. At the very least crunches can
prevent losses in spinal mobility, which might be important in low back pain prevention.
Rectus abdominis hypertrophy. When taking into account the entire body of knowledge
on hypertrophy research, it's abundantly clear that dynamic exercise is superior to
isometric exercise in increasing muscle mass. Much of this has to do with the increased
muscular damage incurred from eccentric activity as well as the increased metabolic
stress. Bottom line, if you want to optimize your "six-pack" appearance, spinal flexion
exercises will certainly help to achieve this goal.
Performance enhancement. Contrary to what some have claimed, lumbar flexion is
prevalent in many sport activities. Thus, concentrically/eccentrically strengthening the
abdominals may very well lead to increased athletic performance.

Anecdotes and Other Arguments

Now let's look at some anecdotal evidence to support our claims.
If we're indeed "limited" in the number of flexion cycles, where does the number
lie?
Several fitness professionals have suggested that humans possess a limited number of
flexion cycles and believe that we should save these cycles for everyday living such as
tying one's shoe rather than wasting them on crunches. Realizing that anecdotal evidence
doesn't prove squat, it's still interesting to ponder and can provide a basis for theoretical
rationale.
In 2003, Edmar Freitas, a Brazilian fitness instructor, performed 133,986 crunches in 30
hours, thereby setting a world record. This beat his previous record of 111,000 sit-ups in
24 hours set in the prior year.
Manny Pacquiao, one of the world's best boxers, performs 4,000 sit-ups per day.
Finally, Herschel Walker, football legend, Olympic bobsledder, and current MMA
hopeful, has been performing 3,500 sit-ups every day since he was in high school. He
started doing sit-ups daily when he was 12 years old. Considering that he's now 49 years
of age, this equates to 47,267,500 sit-ups. That's almost 50 million flexion cycles
performed under compressive loading!
Granted, the argument could be made that perhaps all these individuals have screwed up
spines and if you were to obtain MRI's from each you'd see appalling evidence of
herniations and degeneration, but we doubt this is the case. Instead we believe that this is
clear evidence that the spinal discs can remodel and become stronger over time to resist
damage incurred from spinal flexion exercise.
Another argument could be made that these folks are "outliers" and their freakish genetics
allow for such incredible flexion cycles. We disagree, and believe there are likely many
individuals that have unknowingly met or exceeded this number in their lifetimes.
Instead, we believe that this is evidence that muscular balance, abdominal strength, and
flexion exercise can protect the spine.
Should We Just Shoot Ourselves?
If we cherry-picked select disc studies to determine which forms of exercise we do, we
wouldn't be allowed to do literally anything.
We found 13 studies to indicate that spinal flexion is a bad idea. (Callaghan and McGill,
2001; Drake et al., 2005; Tampier et al., 2007; Drake and Callaghan, 2009; Marshall and
McGill, 2010; Adams and Hutton, 1982; Adams and Hutton, 1983; Adams and Hutton,
1985; Lindblom 1957; Brown et al. 1957; Hardy 1958; Veres et al., 2009; Court et al.
2001). This means no crunches and sit ups.
We found 11 studies that showed that combinations of spinal loading aren't a good idea.
(Gordon et al. 1991 (Flexion and Rotation); McNally et al. 1993 (Flexion and
Anterolateral Bending); Shirazi 1989 (Lateral Bending and Rotation); Kelsey et al. 1984
(Flexion and Rotation); Adams et al. 2000 (Complex); Marshall and McGill, 2010
(Flexion/Extension and Rotation); Drake et al. 2005 (Flexion and Rotation); Veres et al.,
2010 (Flexion and Rotation); Schmidt et al. 2007 (Lateral Bending and Rotation, Lateral
Bending and Flexion, Lateral Bending and Extension); Schmidt et al. 2007 (Lateral
Bending and Flexion, Lateral Bending and Rotation, Flexion and Rotation); Schmidt et
al. 2009 (Lateral Bending and Flexion, Lateral Bending and Extension). This means no
exercises such as twisting sit-ups or Russian twists.
We found a couple studies showing that spinal extension is a big no-no (Adams et al.,
2000; Shah et al., 1978). This means no Supermans.
Several studies show that spinal rotation is bad (Krismer et al., 1996; Aultman et al. 2004;
Farfan et al. 1970). This means no cable chopping motions. And you better not be
performing these on a vibration platform as that would produce a double whammy to the
spine. Vibration has been shown to be bad for the discs (Dupuis and Zerlett 1987).
There's research to suggest that lateral bending is bad for you (Costi et al. 2007;
Natarajan et al. 2008). This means no side bending. Similarly, asymmetrical lifting has
been shown to lead to negative results as well (Natarajan et al. 2008). This means no
unilateral exercises or weighted carries.
Here's where things get interesting. We found 18 different studies showing that static or
dynamic compression is a very bad idea (Virgin 1951; Liu et al. 1983; Lai et al. 2008;
Lotz et al. 1998; Tsai et al. 1998; Iatridis et al. 1999; Lotz et al. 1998; Kroeber et al.
2002; MacLean et al. 2003; Hsieh and Lotz 2003; MacLean et al. 2004; Ching et al.
2004; Masouka et al. 2007; Veres et al. 2008; Lai and Chow 2010; Nakamura et al. 2009;
Wang et al. 2007; Huang and Gu 2008).
This not only means no squats, deadlifts, and core stability exercises, it means no
physical activity involving free weight exercise whatsoever, since muscular contractions
create compressive loading on the spine. We should have known that though, as heavy
lifting is bad for the back (Lee and Chiou 1994; Kelsey et al. 1984), as is overactivity
(Videman and Battie, 1999). So now we know that weightlifting and intense training is
out.
It goes on and on. We've found studies suggesting all sorts of every day activities are bad
for the back, even sitting down and bed-rest. Maybe we should all just shoot ourselves
before we become completely debilitated?

Do Crunches Screw up Your Posture?

The theory goes something like this: Crunches shorten the rectus abdominis. Since the
rectus abdominis spans from the sternum/rib cage to the pelvis, continually shortening the
muscle will pull down your ribcage, ultimately resulting in kyphosis (i.e. a round-back
posture). It's an interesting theory. It's also completely unfounded.
As with many theories, the essence of this claim is based on a kernel of truth.
Specifically, placing a muscle in a shortened position for a prolonged time causes it to
assume a shorter resting length. For example, if you immobilize your arm in a cast at a
flexed position for several weeks, your arm will tend to remain flexed once the cast is
removed.
This is due to an adaptive response whereby the elbow flexors (i.e. biceps, brachialis,
etc.) lose sarcomeres in series while sarcomeres are added to the antagonistic extensor
muscles (Toigo & Boutellier, 2006). This has been coined "adaptive shortening."
Perhaps you can see the flaw in hypothesizing that performing a crunch will shorten the
rectus abdominis, namely, crunches aren't solely a shortening exercise! Rather, the crunch
also includes eccentric actions where the rectus abdominis is returned to its resting
length.
Thus, any potential negative effects of shortening contractions on sarcomere number
would be counterbalanced by the lengthening effect of the eccentric actions. The net
effect is no change in resting length.
Some anti-crunch proponents also argue that performing spinal flexion exercises (i.e.
crunches) overly strengthens the rectus abdominis so that it overpowers its antagonists,
thereby pulling down on the ribcage.
This is a straw man argument. Certainly it's true that an imbalance between muscles can
cause postural disturbances I'm sure you're familiar with guys who hit chest and arms
every workout and end up so internally rotated that they have trouble scratching the back
of their head. But this doesn't mean you shouldn't perform bench presses and arm curls.
The issue here is one of poor program design, not an indictment of specific exercises.
Regarding crunches, the same principle holds true. Sure, if you perform a gazillion
crunches every day and don't train other muscle groups, you're setting yourself up for a
postural disturbance.
But this is a non-issue if you adhere to a balanced routine. Performance of virtually any
standing, non-machine based exercise will heavily involve the core musculature,
particularly the posterior muscles that antagonize the rectus abdominis (Schoenfeld,
2010, Lehman, 2005). It also should be noted that the average person tends to have weak
abdominals (Morris et al. 2006), so they could very well benefit from performing spinal
flexion exercises.
To sum up, there is no convincing evidence that performing crunches as part of a total
body resistance training routine will have any negative effects on posture.
Do crunches lead to additional dysfunction, such as breathing dysfunction and glute
dysfunction?
If crunches did indeed pull down on the ribcage and induce kyphosis, then one could
speculate that breathing and glute functioning could be compromised. However, as just
mentioned, this likely isn't the case.
Anecdotally, hundreds of thousands of athletes in the past few decades have achieved
terrific success in spite of doing crunches. If crunches did lead to shortening of the
abdominals, given that a majority of people including athletes seem to display an anterior
pelvic tilt in their daily posture, one could argue that it would be wise to perform
crunches to pull up on the pelvis, which could theoretically decrease anterior pelvic tilt
and lead to a more neutral lumbo-pelvic posture.
Are crunches a nonfunctional exercise?
Whenever one questions the implication that crunches are as dangerous as wake boarding
in a tsunami, anti-crunchers quickly counter with something like, "Who cares if they're
dangerous or not? Crunches aren't functional! They're a short range movement performed
while lying on your back. They can't possibly transfer to anything."
As our mentor Mel Siff aptly stated:
"Functional training is any form of training that improves any relevant biomotor ability
that does not come at the detriment to other biomotor abilities."
Anti-crunchers will point out that the crunch solely involves bodyweight and therefore
isn't heavy enough to transfer to high-force or high-velocity movement. This is absurd, as
it's very easy to hold a dumbbell at the upper chest to increase the exercise's intensity.
You also can perform a kneeling rope crunch using a cable apparatus to increase training
intensity.
What carries over best to functional activity depends on the task. Here's a chart that
should help you determine optimal transfer of training.
Biomotor Exercise
Examples Examples
Ability Category
Trunk Rotary Rotational Woodchops,
Throwing a football or baseball, throwing a
Stability, exercises and landmines, Pallof
discuss, swinging a bat, throwing a left
Strength and anti-rotation presses, cable or band
hook
Power exercises chops and lifts
Trunk Lateral Lateral flexion
Side bends, side
Bending exercises and
planks, suitcase
Stability, Stiff-arming, posting up, landing a jab anti-lateral
carries, cable or band
Strength and flexion
side bends
Power exercises
Trunk Flexion Sitting up from a bench, bar gymnastics Flexion Crunches, sit ups,
Stability, exercises, bracing for a punch to the exercises and hanging leg raises,
Strength and midsection, resisting being pushed anti-extension planks, ab wheel
Power rearward as in sumo wrestling, throwing a
 soccer ball overhead exercises rollouts, bodysaws
Trunk
Extension Squats, deadlifts, back
Extension
Carrying heavy loads, picking up stuff off exercises and extensions, reverse
Stability,
the ground, staying upright in the clinch anti-flexion hypers, farmer?s
Strength and
exercises walks, Zercher carries
Power
Basically, stability exercises appear to be better for stabilization tasks as well as tasks that
require proper inner-core unit functioning, while strengthening exercises appear to be
better for dynamic tasks and hypertrophy.
As you can see, an exercise like a weighted crunch could transfer quite well to a myriad
of functional tasks, and therefore shouldn't be maligned for its applicability to functional
or sports performance.

Is There a Healthy Balance and Do Discs Heal and

Remodel?
It's been stated by many practitioners that the discs don't heal. This is misleading. It's true
that they're poorly vascularized and struggle to receive adequate nutrition, and it's true
that disc tissue doesn't heal rapidly. Proteoglycan turnover may take 500 days (Urban et
al. 1978) and collagen turnover may take longer (Adams and Hutton 1982).
Hence, the discs' rate of remodeling lags behind that of other skeletal tissues (Maroudas
et al. 1975; Skrzypiec et al. 2007).
However, much evidence of disc-healing exists. Common sense would dictate that discs
do heal, otherwise anyone that suffered a disc injury would never get better. We'd all just
get progressively worse until we could no longer move.
Based on epidemiological studies, it's clear that there's an optimal window of spinal
loading that is somewhere in between bed-rest and overactivity (Videman et al., 1990).
A healthy balance has been shown to occur with spinal compression (Hutton et al. 1998;
Lotz et al. 2002; Walsh and Lotz 2004; Wuertz et al. 2009; MacLean et al. 2005) and
spinal rotation (Chan et al. 2011). Positive aspects of spinal bending have been shown to
occur in the discs as well (Lotz et al. 2008; Court et al. 2001).
Furthermore, 16 different studies indicate that the spinal discs can repair and remodel
themselves. While several papers reviewed the topic (Lotz 2004; Stokes and Iatridis;
Adams and Dolan 1997; Porter 1987), others demonstrated that flexion damages can heal
(Court et al. 2007), compression damages can heal (Lai et al. 2008; Korecki et al. 2008;
MacLean et al. 2008; Hee et al. 2011), prolapses can reverse (Scannell and McGill 2009),
herniations can improve (Girard et al. 2004; Wood et al. 1997), the outer annulus can
strengthen (Skrzpiec et al. 2007), collagen within the disc can remodel to become
stronger (Brickley-Parsons and Glimcher, 1984), and vertebrae, ligaments, and strengthen
to resist loading (Porter et al. 1989; Adams and Dolan 1996).
Every time you move your spine you cause micro-damage to the tissues, which triggers
both anabolic and catabolic processes. Ideally, you want to limit the amount of damage,
as healing from larger scale damage usually leaves the disc biomechanically inferior.
For example, annular damage is repaired by granulation tissue and the scar never regains
its normal lamellar architecture (Hampton et al. 1989). End plate injuries heal with
cartilaginous tissue (Cinotti et al. 2005; Holm et al. 2004), fibrocartilage replaces nucleus
material (Kim et al. 2005), and a healing of harmed tissue is often replaced by a thin-
layer of weaker fibrous tissue (Fazzalari et al. 2001).

A Stress Eustress Solution?

The study of biomechanics is unique because you must not only consider forces and
stresses on human tissues, you must also consider adaptive remodeling. The ideal
situation in programming doesn't avoid stress; it keeps the body in eustress while
avoiding distress, which ensures that anabolic agents inside of tissues exert more work
than catabolic agents inside of tissues to promote full repair, recovery, and strengthening.

Conclusion
We hope that we've provided you some food for thought and encouraged you to rely on
logic rather than emotion in decision-making involving exercise safety and program
design. An effective practitioner weighs all available evidence and makes appropriate
conclusions in a dispassionate manner, without adhering to rigidly held beliefs.
We believe that future research will help hone in on the safety of the crunch exercise and
determine proper dose responses, but this research needs to be conducted on living
humans and involve pre and post-MRI results with a training intervention that ensures
proper crunch technique