Corpse Crunch
The corpse crunch is a crunch done lying flat with your arms straight by your sides, sliding your hands down your legs as your shoulder blades lift off the floor. It works the abdominals, especially the upper part, and keeps the curl straight and controlled.
Also called: Corpse Crunches, Corpse Pose Crunch · Equipment: bodyweight · Pattern: isolation
Step by step
- Lie flat on your back with your legs straight or knees slightly bent, and your arms straight down by your sides, palms facing your legs.
- Brace your stomach and tuck your chin slightly, keeping your neck in line with your spine.
- Curl your upper back off the floor by bending at the waist until your shoulder blades are clear.
- As you rise, slide your hands down the outside of your legs towards your knees.
- Squeeze your abs hard at the top and hold for one to two seconds.
- Uncurl slowly back to the floor, one section of your back at a time.
- Start the next rep without swinging; the set ends when you can no longer curl up with control.
- Slide your hands towards your knees
- Shoulder blades off the floor
- Squeeze at the top for a count of two
- Neck long, chin slightly tucked
- Uncurl slowly
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Rectus abdominis: upper | Prime mover | B |
| Rectus abdominis: lower | Secondary | C |
| Obliques (internal/external) | Secondary | C |
| Hip flexors: iliopsoas | Stabiliser | B |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Leading with the chin
Fix: Keep your chin slightly tucked and curl from your upper back.
Sitting all the way up
Fix: Curl only until your shoulder blades clear the floor.
Swinging up
Fix: Curl up slowly and pause at the top before coming down.
Dropping back to the floor
Fix: Uncurl slowly, one section of your back at a time.
Twisting to one side
Fix: Slide both hands down your legs evenly as you rise.
What the research says
General fitnessEndurance
- Muscles worked — EMG research found that a trunk curl that ends before the hips bend works the abdominals with little hip-flexor involvement.
- Tempo — A common approach is a slow curl with a one to two second squeeze at the top, which is how the exercise is set out in its source programme.
- Abdominal demand — An EMG study of abdominal exercises found the most demanding were those with longer levers and more range, so an unloaded crunch sits at the easier end.
- Sets and reps — Reviews find lighter loads with higher reps favour endurance. A common approach is 2–3 sets of 10–20 slow reps near the end of a session. There is no direct research on this variation.
Log the corpse crunch in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.