knee touch crunch: technique and muscles worked

Animated demonstration of knee touch crunch

How to do this exercise

Step:1 Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
Step:2 Place your hands behind your head with your elbows pointing outwards.
Step:3 Engaging your abs, lift your shoulder blades off the ground and reach your right hand towards your left knee.
Step:4 Return to the starting position and repeat, this time reaching your left hand towards your right knee.
Step:5 Continue alternating sides for the desired number of repetitions.

Equipment: Body weight
Body part: Abdominals
Target muscle: Rectus abdominis Internal obliques External obliques
Secondary muscle: Transverse abdominis

Hypertrophy grade

Low4 / 10

Nemeo’s take

The bodyweight crunch is accessible and practical for targeting the abdominal strap and obliques, but it remains limited on the hypertrophic level. The tension in the stretched position is low and the isolation upon failure is often disrupted by a declining technique. It's an interesting exercise to start with, but it suffers compared to weighted variations and more stable movements like the cable crunch, serving mainly as an activation or finishing tool.

This catalog score reflects Nemeo’s assessment of the exercise’s muscle-building potential. It is not a standardized scientific rating or a personalized recommendation.

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knee touch crunch

How to do this exercise

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