Cross-Body CrunchMuscles Worked
The cross-body crunch works your abs, with the obliques leading as you curl one shoulder across toward the opposite knee. Bringing the knee in to meet the shoulder adds a lower-ab element that a plain crunch doesn't have.
PrimaryAbs
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Beginner
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and both feet planted, fingertips resting lightly behind your ears.
- Breathe out and curl your upper body up, rotating your right shoulder across your body.
- At the same time, lift your left knee toward your chest so your shoulder and knee meet near the middle.
- Pause for a moment, then lower your shoulder and foot back to the start under control.
- Repeat with your left shoulder and right knee, alternating sides each rep.
Form tips
- Drive the shoulder across, not only the elbow, so the twist comes from your trunk.
- Keep the movement slow and deliberate; the goal is a hard squeeze, not touching elbow to knee at any cost.
- Rest your hands lightly and keep your neck relaxed rather than pulling on your head.
Why it made the list
No. 8 of 13
Best Ab Exercises
Targets the obliques through rotational crunching. Bodyweight, no equipment needed. Builds the waist detail.
More ab exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Cross-Body Crunch sets in KasMaker and watch your abs fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
