Kneeling Cable Crunch With Alternating Oblique Twists

What it is

This cable exercise strengthens your core by combining a kneeling crunch with alternating twists. You perform a crunching motion, then rotate your torso to engage your abdominal muscles, including your obliques.

Technique tips

• Keep your hands by your ears; avoid pulling on your head or neck.
• Initiate the downward pull by contracting your abdominal muscles.
• Control the rope on both the downward pull and the slow return.
• Fully rotate your torso during the oblique twist phase.
• Exhale as you crunch down; inhale as you slowly return to the start.

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.