Decline Crunch
A partial-range trunk curl on a decline bench that keeps the lower back down and loads the abdominals against gravity.
How to do it
- Set a decline bench to a moderate angle and hook your feet under the roller pads.
- Lie back with your knees bent and your lower back resting on the bench.
- Cross your arms over your chest or rest your fingertips beside your ears without pulling on the neck.
- Exhale and curl your shoulder blades off the bench by shortening the abdominals.
- Stop once the upper back has left the pad, keeping the lower back in contact.
- Inhale and lower slowly to the start without resting at the bottom.
Key technique cue
Lift only the shoulder blades; lower slowly, don't drop.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Pulling on the head with the hands, which strains the neck and hides how little the abdominals moved.
- ✕ Curling all the way up into a sit-up, which hands the work to the hip flexors.
- ✕ Setting the decline too steep too soon, which usually turns into a swinging half rep.
- ✕ Dropping back to the bench between reps, which discards the eccentric and the tension with it.
Benefits
- ✓ Increases abdominal loading over a floor crunch without adding any external weight.
- ✓ Keeps the range short and the lower back supported, which suits high rep finisher work.
- ✓ Progresses by bench angle alone, so one station covers several difficulty levels.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 -
Step 2 You are here - Decline Crunch
- Bicycle Crunches
- Kneeling Cable Crunch
- Machine Crunch
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Step 3
About the exercise
The decline crunch is a crunch performed head-down on an angled bench with the feet secured. Only the shoulder blades leave the pad; the lower back stays in contact throughout, which keeps the movement in trunk flexion rather than hip flexion. Declining the bench increases the resistance that gravity adds at the start of the range, so the abdominals work harder than they would on the floor for the same rep count. Steeper angles make it harder, which gives a simple progression without adding external load.
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