Day 11 makes a small change with a large effect: it puts your arms overhead. The circuit is long arm crunches, a long arm crunch hold, crunch kicks and a raised legs hold - 30 seconds each, two minutes total. The first two panels are the same position moving and then held, and both are done with the arms stretched straight out past the ears.
Reaching the arms overhead lengthens the body, and a longer body is a heavier one to lift. In a standard crunch your hands sit at your head, close to the axis you are curling around; extended past the ears, they sit as far from that axis as they can get, so the abs have to curl a noticeably longer lever with every rep. The hold that follows keeps you at the top of that lever without moving. Crunch kicks then shift the work downward - shoulders lifted, arms alongside, alternately driving one bent leg out to straight and back - and the raised legs hold ends the circuit with both legs long and still and low. Long at the top, then long at the bottom.
In long arm crunches, keep the arms in line with your torso the whole way up rather than swinging them forward for momentum - if they lead, the abs are not lifting you. In the hold, stay at the top and keep the arms exactly where the last rep left them. During crunch kicks, keep the head and shoulders off the floor and extend each leg fully. In the final hold, choose a leg height you can defend and press the lower back down.
Your arms have never made a crunch feel this long.
Make it Harder: Keep your arms locked overhead through the crunch kicks as well - three of the four panels with a long lever.
Make it Easier: Bring your hands to your temples for the long arm crunches and the hold that follows - a shorter lever, same movement.
