How to Do the Abdominal Crunch: Form and Benefits

Master the abdominal crunch with our expert guide. Learn the proper technique to isolate your core and avoid common mistakes for better results.

How to Perform

  1. Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor roughly hip-width apart.
  2. Place your hands lightly behind your head or cross them over your chest to avoid pulling on your neck.
  3. Engage your core by pulling your navel toward your spine and pressing your lower back into the floor.
  4. Slowly lift your head and shoulder blades off the floor while exhaling, keeping your neck neutral.
  5. Pause at the top of the movement for a second to maximize muscle contraction.
  6. Lower yourself back to the starting position with control while inhaling.
  7. Maintain constant tension in the abdominals by not letting your shoulders fully relax between repetitions.

Common Mistakes

  • Interlocking fingers behind the head and pulling the neck forward.
  • Using momentum or jerky movements to lift the upper body.
  • Lifting the lower back off the floor, which shifts tension to the hip flexors.

Muscles Worked

Primary movers

  • Abs

Stabilizers

  • Obliques
  • Transverse Abdominis

Related Guides

Abs · Core