Machine Seated Crunch
- Secondary muscles
- Obliques
- Body part
- Core
- Position
- Seated
- Laterality
- Bilateral (both sides together)
- Category
- Strength
Track this exercise in SetGrip — no account needed
Sitting against a pad with a weight stack behind you turns the crunch into a loadable, repeatable lift you can progress week to week like any other machine movement. Compared with the chest-pad version, pulling on handles brings your arms into play, so check that the rep stays a rib-cage curl rather than an arm pull.
How to do the Machine Seated Crunch
- Sit on the leverage machine with your back against the pad and your feet flat on the floor.
- Grasp the handles or place your hands on the side pads for support.
- Engage your abs and slowly lean back, allowing the pad to move with you.
- Once your upper body is at a 45-degree angle, contract your abs and crunch forward, bringing your chest towards your knees.
- Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly release and return to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Tip: Exhale slowly as you roll out and keep the ribs pulled down toward the pelvis the entire time.
Muscles worked
Primary
Abs · Core
The abs work almost entirely to resist extension, holding the pelvis tucked as the lever gets longer; the tension should be highest at the far point of the rollout, not on the way back.
Secondary
- Obliques
Common mistakes
- Hips sagging at the bottom — if your lower back arches as the wheel rolls out, you have gone past the range your abs can control; shorten the rollout and stop at the point where your hips still stay tucked.
- Hinging at the hips — pushing your backside back toward your heels on the return turns it into a hip hinge; keep the hips locked in line with the torso and pull with the abs.
- Reaching with the arms — leading with the arms turns it into a lat exercise; think of moving the whole body as one rigid plank that happens to lengthen.
- Skipping the posterior tilt — before you roll, squeeze the glutes and tuck the pelvis slightly so the abs are braced before the load arrives.
Where it fits in a workout
Rollouts belong toward the end of a session, after heavy lifts but while you can still brace well. Superset them with hanging knee raises or a plank variation so the core work is done in one block.
How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.
Variations and alternatives
Similar exercises
When to talk to someone
- Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
- Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
- Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.
Track the Machine Seated Crunch in SetGrip
All 1,100+ exercises with animations are in the app. No account, no sign-up — your history stays on your iPhone and in your private iCloud. Works with Apple Watch.
More exercises
Sources
- ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
- ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
- ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
- CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)
Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.
Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.