Machine Crunch
Set the seat and pad so you can start upright with the handles or pads secured. Brace your core and curl your ribcage toward your pelvis by contracting the abs instead of yanking with the arms. Pause in the crunch, then return slowly without letting the weight stack slam.
Muscles worked
Primary
Equipment
How to do it
- Set the seat so the knees are pinned under the pads and the chest meets the upper handles or pad.
- Grip the handles or hook the arms over the pad so the load sits on the upper torso, not on the arms.
- Brace the core and curl the rib cage toward the pelvis through spinal flexion.
- Pause for one count when the abs are fully shortened.
- Return under control without letting the weight stack slam down.
- Reset the brace before the next rep.
Watch for
- Pulling with the arms instead of curling through the spine.
- Bouncing out of the bottom on the stack.
- Hips lifting off the seat to find extra range.
Breathing
Exhale as you crunch down, inhale as you return.
Tip
Drop the weight if the arms start doing the work. Light load with full spinal flexion beats heavy partials.
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