Decline Crunch
How to do the Decline Crunch with correct form, the muscles it works, and where it fits a training plan you actually stick to.
Abs
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Body Only
How to do the Decline Crunch
- 1
Secure your legs at the end of the decline bench and lie down.
- 2
Now place your hands lightly on either side of your head keeping your elbows in. Tip: Don't lock your fingers behind your head.
- 3
While pushing the small of your back down in the bench to better isolate your abdominal muscles, begin to roll your shoulders off it.
- 4
Continue to push down as hard as you can with your lower back as you contract your abdominals and exhale. Your shoulders should come up off the bench only about four inches, and your lower back should remain on the bench. At the top of the movement, contract your abdominals hard and keep the contraction for a second. Tip: Focus on slow, controlled movement - don't cheat yourself by using momentum.
- 5
After the one second contraction, begin to come down slowly again to the starting position as you inhale.
- 6
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Log it, see it on your body.
Every Decline Crunch set you log feeds Ascend's anatomy heatmap — so your abs volume is visible at a glance — and counts toward your bodyweight-strength tier.
More abs exercises
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