Flatten your stomach

Myth 4: During the crunch, you should place your hands behind your head for support

You should never put your hands behind your head for support. When you put your hands behind your head and clasp there is a tendency to pull on the neck muscles.

This puts you at a greater risk for straining the neck muscles, especially when the repetitions start getting difficult and you are fatiguing and want to get out the last few reps. The best advice is to place your hands behind your chest or put your fists at your ears.

Schoenfeld emphasises that to achieve a super-sexy stomach you first have to shed the layer of fat covering the muscles. The best one-two tactic? Good nutrition and regular physical activity. 'Without proper nutrition, you aren't going to see the fruits of your labour,' he says.

For an extra boost of fat burning Schoenfeld advocates an aerobic activity. The combination of a healthy diet and cardio exercise will speed up your progress and help burn extra fat.

Schoenfeld suggests performing the following three exercises as one giant set. Do 15 to 20 reps of the toe touch. Without resting, do 15 to 20 reps of the reverse curl. Then do 15 to 20 reps of the twisting curl. Rest 30 seconds and repeat the giant set two more times.

Toe Touch
Begin by lying on the floor with arms and legs straight upwards, perpendicular to your body. Slowly curl your torso up and forward, raising your hands as close to your toes as possible. Contract your abs and then reverse direction, returning to the starting position.

Reverse Curl
Begin by lying back on the floor. With your hands at your sides, raise your butt as high as possible while keeping your upper back pressed to the floor. Contract your abs and then reverse direction, returning to the starting position.

Twisting Crunch
Begin by lying face up on the floor with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Your thighs should be perpendicular to the ground and your hands should be folded across your chest. Slowly raise your shoulders up and forward toward your chest, twisting your body to the right.

Feel a contraction in your abdominal muscles and then slowly reverse direction, returning to the start position. After performing the desired number of repetitions, repeat the process, twisting your body to the left.

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