weighted crunch: technique and muscles worked

Animated demonstration of weighted 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 Hold a weight plate or dumbbell on your chest.
Step:3 Engage your abs and lift your upper body off the ground, curling forward until your shoulder blades are off the ground.
Step:4 Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your upper body back down to the starting position.
Step:5 Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Equipment: Body weight Dumbbells Kettlebell Free weights
Body part: Abdominals
Target muscle: Rectus abdominis
Secondary muscle: Transverse abdominis Internal obliques External obliques

Hypertrophy grade

Average6 / 10

Nemeo’s take

The weighted crunch allows you to effectively target the rectus abdominis without requiring advanced technique. Compared to its ground variants, the load accentuates the tension but the resistance decreases significantly at the end of the amplitude, limiting long-term progression. The exercise isolates the abs well but remains limited by the ability to maintain the load on the chest, making the stimulus sometimes suboptimal compared to pendulum movements or the high pulley.

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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weighted crunch

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