DOSE & LIFT
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Cable Crunch

Equipment: Cable Machine ★★★☆☆ 3/5 effectiveness

Movement demo

Watch a video demonstration of this exercise on MuscleWiki. The demo opens on an external site.

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Muscles worked

Primary:Core
Secondary:None listed

Effectiveness

★★★☆☆ 3/5

Acute EMG research documents rectus abdominis activation across crunch-type exercises, and a synthesis of abdominal EMG studies describes the activation patterns of trunk-flexion movements. No hypertrophy trials of the cable crunch were identified, and EMG amplitude does not establish growth.

Note on this rating: it leans on EMG studies, which measure muscle activation during the movement. EMG amplitude does not establish muscle growth.

How to perform

Kneeling facing a cable stack, the lifter flexes the trunk to draw the ribcage toward the pelvis against cable resistance. The rectus abdominis is the primary mover through spinal flexion, with the obliques assisting. The cable allows the resistance to be adjusted beyond body weight.

References

  1. Escamilla et al., Phys Ther (2006) - EMG analysis of traditional and nontraditional abdominal exercises
  2. Monfort-Panego et al., J Manipulative Physiol Ther (2009) - synthesis of EMG studies in abdominal exercises