Cable crunch

Exercise technique:

Ideally depending on the surface of the floor, it will be preferable to take a mat that you roll up so as not to hurt your knees.

You are on your knees, buttocks resting on your heels, facing or back to a high pulley, the rope held behind your head.

Start of the movement, back straight, you roll up your back, remembering to breathe out through your mouth (slightly pinched lip) during the movement. Roll your back, dig your stomach, exhale hard, return to the initial position slowly while inhaling.

You will need to be careful not to use your hip flexors and to locate the movement as you move the breastbone closer to the pubis.

Muscles worked:

Main: abdominals (rectus, transverse, oblique)

The exercise more precisely localizes the work on the abdominals (rectus abdominis) from the “top” by shortening them from its “high” insertion on the sternum.

The transverse will also come into play if you focus on trying to tuck your stomach in throughout the exercise.

Interest of Cable crunchs

This exercise will allow you to put on higher loads than if you were on a traditional crunch job. However, it’s not about not putting on heavy to put on heavy, your technique should be flawless.

Cable crunch variants

You can also do the exercise while sitting on a bench.

Danger / contraindication

Attention, this exercise requires a good technical mastery in its execution. The hip must be fixed, i.e. not movable. It is only the abdominals that need to be in motion (dynamic).

If the technique is not followed, the hip flexors can take over the abdominals and cause back pain, especially with the iliac psoas.