Air BikeMuscles Worked
The air bike, also called the bicycle crunch, works your abs, with the obliques doing extra work each time you twist an elbow toward the opposite knee. Pedaling your legs while you hold a crunch keeps the rectus abdominis working through the whole set.
PrimaryAbs
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Beginner
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Lie on your back with your fingertips lightly beside your head and your lower back pressed into the floor.
- Lift your shoulders off the floor and raise your knees so your thighs are vertical and your shins are parallel to the floor.
- Straighten your right leg toward the floor while you draw your left knee in and rotate your right shoulder toward it.
- Switch sides in a smooth pedaling motion, bringing your left shoulder toward your right knee as the left leg extends.
- Keep alternating at a steady, controlled pace until you finish the set, breathing out on each twist.
Form tips
- Rotate from your ribcage so your shoulder moves toward the knee, rather than just flapping your elbow across.
- Slow down, because fast pedaling turns it into a leg exercise and lets momentum do the twisting.
- Keep your hands light on your head and never pull your neck forward.
Why it made the list
No. 7 of 13
Best Ab Exercises
ACE study ranked bicycle crunches #1 for rectus abdominis and oblique activation. Bodyweight, no equipment. Rotation component hits obliques.
More ab exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Air Bike sets in KasMaker and watch your abs fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
