How many reps of the weighted crunch should you do when you are new to the exercise?

Start with 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps using a light plate held high on the chest. Once you can curl fully and lower slowly for every rep, add a small amount of weight rather than adding more reps past 15.

What can I do instead of the weighted crunch without a weight plate?

A dumbbell, kettlebell, or a filled water jug held at the chest works just as well as a plate. If you have no weight at all, a bodyweight crunch trains the same pattern; simply extend your arms overhead to lengthen the lever and make it harder.

What is the weighted crunch good for?

Adding external load lets you keep progressing the rectus abdominis with heavier weight and fewer reps, the way you would train any other muscle for size or strength. It is a poor choice for someone who still cannot do a clean bodyweight crunch without pulling on the neck, since adding weight before that pattern is solid usually makes the neck pull worse.

Intermediate

Weighted Crunch

Adding a plate turns the bodyweight crunch into a progressable strength move for the upper rectus abdominals, letting you train the abs in the same low-rep, added-load fashion you would any muscle. It keeps the short, spine-flexing range that makes the crunch effective while giving you a clear way to get stronger. Hold the plate high on the chest to load the movement without straining the neck.

Equipment: Plate
Body part: Abs
Type: Strength
Browse by muscle: Upper Rectus Abdominals
Browse by movement: Spinal Flexion

How to do it

1
Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
2
Hold a weight plate flat against your upper chest with both hands.
3
Brace the abs and curl the shoulders and upper back off the floor.
4
Crunch until the ribcage draws down toward the pelvis.
5
Squeeze the abs at the top, then lower under control.
6
Keep the lower back in contact with the floor throughout.

Tips

Lead with the ribs and abs, not with the chin poking forward.
Exhale on the way up to deepen the contraction.
Hold the plate higher toward the head to make it harder.
Lower slowly; the eccentric is where much of the growth stimulus lives.

Variations

Common mistakes

The plate creeps down toward the stomach as the set goes on, which shortens the lever and makes the last few reps easier instead of harder.
Locking the elbows straight to hold the plate turns the shoulders into the plate's support instead of letting the chest and abs share the load properly.
The feet push down hard into the floor to help lever the torso up, borrowing from the hip flexors what the abs are supposed to do.
Snapping the plate upward to build momentum at the start of the rep skips the slow curl the eccentric-focused version of this lift depends on.

Frequently asked

How many reps of the weighted crunch should you do when you are new to the exercise?: Start with 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps using a light plate held high on the chest. Once you can curl fully and lower slowly for every rep, add a small amount of weight rather than adding more reps past 15.
What can I do instead of the weighted crunch without a weight plate?: A dumbbell, kettlebell, or a filled water jug held at the chest works just as well as a plate. If you have no weight at all, a bodyweight crunch trains the same pattern; simply extend your arms overhead to lengthen the lever and make it harder.
What is the weighted crunch good for?: Adding external load lets you keep progressing the rectus abdominis with heavier weight and fewer reps, the way you would train any other muscle for size or strength. It is a poor choice for someone who still cannot do a clean bodyweight crunch without pulling on the neck, since adding weight before that pattern is solid usually makes the neck pull worse.

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