Reverse Crunch

A waist exercise targeting the abdominals, performed with body weight.

Reverse Crunch demonstration
Reverse Crunch — demonstration

Body part

Waist

Equipment

Body Weight

Target muscles

Abdominals

Secondary muscles

How to do Reverse Crunch

  1. Lie down on the floor with your legs fully extended and arms to the side of your torso with the palms on the floor. Your arms should be stationary for the entire exercise.

  2. Move your legs up so that your thighs are perpendicular to the floor and feet are together and parallel to the floor. This is the starting position.

  3. While inhaling, move your legs towards the torso as you roll your pelvis backwards and you raise your hips off the floor. At the end of this movement your knees will be touching your chest.

  4. Hold the contraction for a second and move your legs back to the starting position while exhaling.

  5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Muscles worked

Primary (target)

Abdominals

Secondary

None listed

Related exercises

All waist exercises →

Track Reverse Crunch in NutriMind

Log your sets and the app does the rest — automatic PR detection, progression charts for every lift, and progressive overload that adjusts your next workout. Paired with AI nutrition coaching so your training and your plate pull in the same direction.

Planning your next heavy session? Estimate your max with the One Rep Max Calculator and build up to it with the Warm-up Calculator. More free tools →