# Reverse Crunch: how to do it

- Main muscles: abs
- Equipment: bodyweight
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/reverse_crunch/4f71b29849/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Lie on your back with your arms on the floor beside you, palms down.
2. Lift your legs so your knees are over your hips and bent to a right angle.
3. Breathe out and curl your hips off the floor, bringing your knees towards your chest.
4. Pause, then lower your hips slowly until your knees are back over your hips.

## Cues

- Curl your hips towards your ribs.
- Keep the knee bend fixed.
- Lower slowly, no swinging.

## Common mistakes

- Swinging your legs to lift: slow down and curl from your stomach.
- Letting your knees drop past your hips: stop when your thighs are upright.
- Pushing hard with your arms: use them only for balance.

## The version in our demo

Floor reverse crunch from a tabletop leg position, knees held at a right angle, arms on the floor for balance. This is the ACE and physiotherapy version; the feet-on-floor start is a regression and is not shown.

## Starting position

Lying on the back on a mat, head and shoulders relaxed on the floor. Legs lifted into tabletop: thighs vertical with the knees directly over the hips, knees bent 90°, shins parallel to the floor, knees and feet together. Pelvis and lower back resting on the mat.

## The movement

Curl the pelvis up towards the ribcage so the hips peel off the mat and the knees travel towards the chest, without opening or closing the knee bend. The spine rolls up from the tailbone to about the bottom of the ribs; shoulders, head and arms stay down. Pause briefly, then roll the spine back down slowly until the pelvis rests on the mat and the knees are back over the hips. The knees move in a short arc up and towards the face; the legs never swing.

## Breathing

Breathe out as the hips curl up, in as you lower.

## Tempo

1.5 s up, 0.5 s pause, 2 s down (4 s).

## Form in numbers

- Start: hip flexion 90°, knee flexion 90° (ACE).
- Knee flexion stays at 90° throughout.
- Shoulder blades, head and arms stay in contact with the mat.
- Return: thighs back to vertical, never past vertical away from the chest.

## Sources

1. [ACE, "Reverse Crunch"](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/76/reverse-crunch/)
2. [Physitrack, "Step-by-step guide to the reverse crunch exercise"](https://www.physitrack.com/exercise-library/how-to-perform-the-reverse-crunch-exercise)
3. [The Prehab Guys, "Reverse Crunch"](https://library.theprehabguys.com/vimeo-video/reverse-crunch/)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/reverse-crunch