Cable crunch: how to do it

Main muscles: Upper abs. Helpers: Lower abs, Obliques. Below: step-by-step form, common mistakes, a muscle map, reps and rest, and what to swap it for.

Equipment

Cable

Reps

10–15

Rest

75 s

Muscle group

Core

How to do it

On your knees with your back to the pulley, rope by the temples, elbows close to the head.
Curl the torso down and bring the ribs towards the pelvis; the pelvis stays put.
Return slowly without letting the abs go.

Common mistakes

Hinging at the hips instead of curling, pulling with the arms.

▶ Form video on YouTube

Muscles worked

Front

Back

primary·secondary

Primary: Upper abs
Secondary: Lower abs, Obliques

A secondary muscle gets roughly half the stimulus of a set — that is also how the log’s stats count it.

Alternatives: similar exercises

Plank Bodyweight · Upper abs, Lower abs Ab wheel rollout Bodyweight · Upper abs, Lower abs Bicycle crunch Bodyweight · Obliques, Lower abs Crunches Bodyweight · Upper abs Hanging leg raise Bodyweight · Lower abs Russian twist Plate · Obliques

Log your sets — the app suggests the next weight

GymAssist tracks the load on each of 40 muscles, paints it on a body map and uses double progression to tell you when to add weight.

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