Cable Crunch

What it is

This core-strengthening exercise isolates your abdominal muscles, helping to build strength and definition. You perform it by kneeling and pulling a weighted cable rope down with controlled flexion of your torso.

Technique tips

• Drive your elbows towards your mid-thighs.
• Exhale fully as you crunch downward.
• Inhale slowly as you extend back up.
• Pause briefly to deepen the abdominal contraction.
• Maintain constant tension in your abdominals.
• Select a weight that challenges your abs, not your back.

How to track your progress

Log the weight and reps of each set. Straddly turns every set into an estimated one-rep max, so a heavier single and a strong set of eight both count as progress, and it flags a personal record the moment you beat your best.