Do you lose points on crunches if you stop with your back on floor and then start again? Obviously, with a 2 minute limit, it is crucial not to waste time. However, I have a fitness guide geared toward Marines and it says it is acceptable to stop during crunches as long as you are on your back (shoulders touching ground). Does anyone know about this? I can do about 70 but then have to rest my muscles for a few seconds.
You don't "lose points" on crunches - you either do a crunch, or you don't do one. Everyone starts at zero, and goes up from there. There is nothing in MCO P6100.12 which states that you must rest in the "down" position. The crunch starts with your back on the deck, and is counted when your shoulderblades touch the deck again. You can rest in the "down" position all you want. Personally, I do not recommend resting at all. I have found it best just to get them over with - once I rest, it's OVER. It is just an endurance exercise; it is not uncommon for Marines to finish their 100 crunches in 1:00-1:30. Others have success resting in the concentric ("up") position - in other words, halfway through the crunch. I suppose it is easier to restart with an extension (going back to the deck) then it is to attempt a contraction (going up) after resting. To each his/her own...
I did a pft a couple weeks ago and got the 100 in 1:10, and I rested twice (in "down" position). It just seems to depend on the person. Although I personally wouldn't rest in "up" position simply because you're using those muscles to hold yourself up.
slasher - what was your training regiment for the crunches? I have always worked out my abs, and thought they were in pretty good shape, but i guess i'm not used to doing them the marine way (coming all the way up to my thighs). did you just focus on doing the crunches or did you mix it up with leg lifts, scissors kicks, etc.?
I do crunch drills.... 2:00 of crunches, rest 1:00, 1:30 crunches, rest 1:00, 1:00 crunches, rest 1:00, 30 sec crunches. or I do pyramids.... 20, 40, 60, 40, 20. Obviously, you can push yourself harder with the drills than the pyramids because you're racing the clock. I usually do pyramids when I want a certain number of reps instead of time. My quads used to burn when I first started doing crunches, but after getting into the habit of doing them on a regular basis, I didn't have that problem anymore. good luck!
You can do the leg lifts, scissor kicks all the other ab excercises you can think of if you want to. I do them only to keep myself from getting bored. I can do a 100 in little over a minute as well, but I'd suggest that you simply concentrate on standard crunches until you can reach a 100 and then some. During the last job I had, I'd blast out two minutes of crunches everytime we had a break. By the end of the work day I'd normally done somewhere around 450 crunches. This worked for me, whatever works for you do it, but be truly dedicated to it and you'll get your 100.
i'll keep at it. the problem i'm running into right now is when i do these at the gym i feel like i'm using my legs to pull myself up just as much, maybe more than my abs (maybe b/c i do them off a decline bench?). this sucks b/c my legs give out before my abs. if it were not for this, i'm sure i could do many more. this makes me wonder if i'm doing them wrong b/c they feel more like i'm doing a full situp rather than a "crunch" which i'm used to doing.
If you haven't done so already ask your OSO or any other Marine for that matter to demonstrate the proper technique. They're usually pretty good about giving pointers in that area to help you suceed.
