Weighted Crunch
The weighted crunch is a crunch done lying on your back while holding a weight plate or dumbbell on your chest. The added weight lets you progress the load on the abdominal muscles, mainly the rectus abdominis, beyond what a bodyweight crunch allows.
Also called: Weighted Crunches, Plate Crunch, Dumbbell Crunch, Loaded Crunch · Equipment: strength · Pattern: isolation
Step by step
- Lie on your back on a mat with your knees bent to about 90° and your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
- Hold a weight plate flat against your upper chest with both hands, or hold one dumbbell lengthways against your chest with your arms crossed over it.
- Tuck your chin slightly, as if holding a small ball under it, and brace your trunk.
- Breathe out and curl your ribcage towards your pelvis, lifting your head and shoulder blades off the mat. Keep the small of your back on the mat.
- Pause for a moment at the top with the weight still pressed to your chest.
- Uncurl under control until your shoulder blades touch the mat, then begin the next rep.
- After the last rep, set the weight on the floor beside you before you sit up.
- Ribs to hips, curl the spine
- Weight pinned to your chest
- Chin tucked, eyes to your knees
- Breathe out as you curl up
- Uncurl slowly to the mat
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Rectus abdominis: upper (supraumbilical) | Prime mover | C |
| Rectus abdominis: lower (infraumbilical) | Secondary | C |
| Obliques (internal/external) | Secondary | C |
| Hip flexors | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Pulling with the head and neck
Fix: Keep a small gap under your chin and lead the curl with your ribcage.
Swinging up with momentum
Fix: Curl up smoothly, pause at the top and take about two seconds to uncurl.
Sitting all the way up
Fix: Curl only until your shoulder blades lift, then uncurl.
Weight drifting off the chest
Fix: Press the plate or dumbbell flat to your upper chest for every rep.
Holding the breath through the set
Fix: Breathe out as you curl up and breathe in as you uncurl.
Feet lifting or hooked under a support
Fix: Keep your feet flat on the floor and free, knees bent about 90°.
What the research says
Muscle growth · first choiceStrengthGeneral fitnessEndurance
- Load — Research finds muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are hard, although very light loads underperform. Adding a plate or dumbbell is a simple way to keep crunch sets in a challenging rep range.
- Effort — Studies show sets that finish a few reps short of failure capture most of the size benefit, and true failure adds only a small extra return.
- Volume — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns.
- Range of motion — A systematic review found no study had yet measured how range of motion affects growth of the trunk muscles, so there is no direct research on crunch range.
- Tempo — Studies show growth is similar across rep speeds from about half a second to eight seconds when sets are hard. A pause at the top and a slow uncurl are common practice.
Log the weighted 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.