Kneeling Cable Crunch

Setup

1. 01Attach a rope to a high pulley and select a moderate weight.
2. 02Kneel facing the stack about one step back from the machine.
3. 03Hold the rope ends beside the head or in front of the forehead.
4. 04Set the hips slightly back and start with the spine long, abs stretched.

Execution

1. 01Exhale and curl the spine down, driving the ribs toward the pelvis.
2. 02Bring the elbows toward the mid thighs while the hips stay mostly still.
3. 03Squeeze the abs hard in the fully rounded position.
4. 04Uncurl slowly back to the tall starting position, feeling the abs stretch.

Checkpoints

• -The spine visibly rounds; this is deliberate flexion, not a hip hinge.
• -Hands stay fixed relative to the head for the whole rep.
• -Hips stay in roughly the same place instead of sitting back to the heels.
• -The return is as slow as the curl down.

Common mistakes

• -Hinging at the hips so the load moves without the spine flexing.
• -Pulling the rope down with the arms like a triceps pushdown.
• -Sitting the hips onto the heels at the bottom of every rep.
• -Loading so heavy that the range collapses to a few inches.