Cable Crunch
Trains the Abs.
- Equipment
- A cable station
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Attach a rope to a high cable pulley and kneel facing the machine, a foot or two back from it.
- Take one end of the rope in each hand and bring your hands to either side of your head, holding them there.
- Sit back slightly so your hips are over your heels, with tension already on the cable.
- Keeping your hips still, curl your ribcage down toward your pelvis by rounding your upper back.
- Continue until your elbows travel toward your thighs, breathing out as you go.
- Return under control until your torso is upright again and your abdominals are stretched.
Common mistakes
- Hinging at the hips instead of curling the spine. If the movement looks like bowing forward, the hips are doing it and the abdominals are just holding on. The hips stay still; the spine flexes.
- Pulling with the arms. The hands hold the rope in place beside the head — they are not supposed to move relative to your head at all.
- Sitting too upright at the start, so there is no stretch at the top of the movement.
- Underloading it. This is the most straightforward way to train the abdominals against real resistance, and treating it as a light finisher wastes what it is good for.