Machine Crunch
The machine crunch is a seated crunch where you curl your torso forward against a weighted pad or handles. It isolates the abs, especially the rectus abdominis. Its biggest perk over floor crunches is easy loading, so you can train your abs like any other muscle with progressive overload.
Muscles worked
The machine crunch trains the abs.
Primary
Weekly sets for abs
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for abs, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the machine crunch
- 01Set the seat so the chest pad or handles sit at upper chest or shoulder height.
- 02Hook your feet under the rollers if the machine has them, and grab the handles.
- 03Start upright with your ribs stacked over your hips.
- 04Curl your torso forward by pulling your ribs toward your pelvis.
- 05Return slowly until your torso is upright again, keeping tension in the abs.
Coaching cues
- Ribs to hips
- Round the spine, don't hinge
- Exhale as you crunch
Common mistakes
- Pulling with your arms drags the stack without working your abs, so keep your arms fixed and curl with your torso.
- Hinging at the hips lets the hip flexors take over, so focus on rounding your upper spine down.
- Letting the stack drop between reps removes tension, so control the return and stop just before the plates touch.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers isolation work toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Machine Crunch alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your machine crunch free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.