Machine Crunch
A seated loaded crunch that isolates the upper abs through a fixed flexion path — the gym's progressive answer to bodyweight crunches.
How to do it
- Sit in the machine and adjust the seat so the chest pad rests on your upper chest, not your throat.
- Hook your hands or forearms onto the handles and plant your feet firmly on the floor or footrests.
- Brace your core and curl your rib cage down toward your hips, keeping the movement in your abs.
- Pause briefly at the bottom of the crunch, squeezing your abs hard before reversing the movement.
- Return slowly to the start over 2–3 seconds, keeping tension in your abs all the way up.
- Repeat for 10–15 controlled reps without letting the stack slam back to rest between reps.
Key technique cue
Curl the chest to the hips with the abs, not the arms; return over 2–3 seconds.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Pulling with the arms or shoulders instead of crunching with the abs, which takes load off the target muscle.
- ✕ Using a heavy stack and a tiny range, which trains momentum rather than the abs.
- ✕ Letting the stack snap back at the top, killing the slow lowering where most of the growth tension lives.
- ✕ Setting the chest pad too high on the throat, which makes the lifter strain the neck instead of the core.
Benefits
- ✓ Builds upper-ab thickness with progressive, measurable load.
- ✓ Isolates the abs along a fixed path that beginners can easily feel.
- ✓ Allows real overload without stressing the lower back or hip flexors.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 -
Step 2 You are here - Machine Crunch
- Bicycle Crunches
- Decline Crunch
- Kneeling Cable Crunch
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Step 3
About the exercise
The Machine Crunch lets lifters add real load to a movement that bodyweight quickly outgrows. Seated against a pad with the chest braced, the lifter flexes the spine forward against the stack, isolating the upper abs through a smooth, fixed range of motion. The fixed path makes it easier to feel the abs working and harder to cheat with the hip flexors. It suits hypertrophy work, beginner-friendly core circuits, and machine-only training where bodyweight ab work isn't enough of a stimulus. It pairs well with cable crunches and the ab wheel as part of a core progression.
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