Decline CrunchMuscles Worked
The decline crunch works your abs, mainly the upper portion of the rectus abdominis, as you curl your shoulders up off a decline bench. The head-down angle makes each rep harder than a floor crunch, and you can hold a plate on your chest to add load.
PrimaryAbs
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Intermediate
- Type
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Hook your feet under the pads of a decline bench and lie back with your knees bent.
- Rest your fingertips lightly beside your head, or cross your arms over your chest.
- Press your lower back into the bench, breathe out, and curl your head and shoulders up a few inches by contracting your abs.
- Squeeze hard at the top for a second while your lower back stays on the bench.
- Lower slowly until your shoulder blades touch the pad again, then start the next rep.
Form tips
- This is a short movement: lift your shoulders and keep your lower back down rather than sitting all the way up.
- Don't yank your head forward with your hands; keep a gap between your chin and chest.
- Go slowly and avoid bouncing off the bench to build momentum.
Why it made the list
No. 6 of 13
Best Ab Exercises
Weighted crunch variation using a decline bench. More challenging than floor crunches.
More ab exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Decline 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.
