Fit with Sebastian- Exercise of the week

Plain old- Crunches/ Sit ups
Many people have tried these from the beginning of time- cave men used to perform them in front of their sexy- hairy cave-women in hopes of impressing them and maybe getting "lucky" later on their stone beds. :)
People have complained about the amount of stress these (crunches/sit ups) have placed on their lower backs and specially cervical regions (necks), which i tend to agree with.  The problem most of the time is that people are not performing the exercise properly... and of course info-mercials and ab machines are banking on it.  To avoid giving these people your money and instead keeping that money in your pockets or at the very least giving it to your salsa instructor, nail salon, local mall or personal trainer! ;)
make sure you are using proper body mechanics and technique while crunching.  Everyone knows the common tips like: (Lets make it simple and go from your toes up)

1) Wear proper exercise apparel
2) Do this exercise on a comfortable surface (yoga/ exercise mat, grass or flat surface)
3) Make sure you keep your feet flat on the ground.
4) Bend your knees to reduce the arch in your lumbar spine (lower spine) while maintaining the natural curve of your spine.
5) Keep natural curve in lower back while keeping rest of back (from there up) flat.
6) Keep shoulders back and relaxed (avoid shrugging them up when you fatigue after 2.12345 crunches)
7) Keep your hands across your chest or to look like a pro- keep hands on your sides touching the top of your ears.

** These are all conventional ways and some that are universally known already: the one that people do not know is (as soon as you start or feel discomfort in your neck area): Place your tongue to the roof of your mouth! Yes it works :) Doing this relaxes some flexors in your neck and activates other stabilizing muscles in that region and further stabilizes your neck so that the pain minimizes and for the most part- goes away!
(I'm new to this, but will try to figure out how to post a video of these tips soon!)
Hope this helps!
Your Trainer, Sebastian