Standing Cable Crunch

How to Perform the Standing Cable Crunch

Attach a rope handle to a high pulley on a cable machine and select an appropriate weight.
Stand facing the machine and grasp the rope ends beside your head, with your elbows bent.
Take a small step back from the machine and position your feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in your knees.
Brace your core and begin the movement by flexing your spine, crunching your ribcage down toward your pelvis.
Focus on contracting your abdominals rather than pulling with your arms; your hands should stay in a fixed position relative to your head.
Hold the bottom contracted position for a one-second squeeze, then slowly return to the starting position under control.
Avoid leaning back or using hip flexion to move the weight.

Pulling the weight down with the arms instead of crunching with the abs

Keep your arms locked in position and focus entirely on spinal flexion to move the weight.

Hinging at the hips rather than flexing the spine

Think about bringing your ribcage toward your pelvis; the movement should come from your trunk, not your hips.

Using too much weight and losing form

Start lighter and focus on feeling a strong contraction in your abs before increasing the load.

✓Provides constant tension on the abs through the full range of motion due to cable resistance
✓Easy to adjust weight for progressive overload and drop sets
✓Can be performed standing which is comfortable for those with lower back discomfort during floor ab exercises

Strength

4-5 sets of 6-8 reps at heavy weight

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 10-15 reps at moderate weight

Endurance

2-3 sets of 15-25 reps at light weight

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