Core · Bodyweight
Bicycle Crunches
How to do the bicycle crunches, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Core Hold
- Mechanic
- Accessory
How to do it
Lie on your back, hands behind head, knees bent. Alternate bringing opposite elbow to opposite knee, extending the other leg.
- 1Feel your obliques and rectus abdominis working as you twist and bring elbow to opposite knee
- 2Keep your legs elevated and moving in a pedalling motion to maintain tension
- 3Engage your deep core to avoid pulling on your neck
Common mistakes
- Avoid yanking your head forward; support it lightly with your fingertips
- Don't let your lower back arch off the mat
- Avoid moving too fast; control the twist and leg extension
Muscles worked
The bicycle crunches mainly works the upper abs and lower abs, with the obliques assisting.
- Upper AbsPrimary
- Lower AbsPrimary
- ObliquesSupport
- QuadsMinor
Bicycle Crunches strength standards
See how your bicycle crunches ranks, from Bronze to Champion. These are the same standards the Kovo app uses to rank your lifts.
Bronze6 reps
Silver14 reps
Gold50 reps
Platinum89 reps
Diamond111 reps
Champion132 reps
Find your rank
Enter your best set of reps.
Kovo tracks this rank automatically as you train, across every lift, and levels you up as you get stronger.
Kovo programs the bicycle crunches for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More abs & core exercises
- How to do the ab wheel rollout
- How to do the ankle tap plank
- How to do the ankle taps
- How to do the resistance band dead bugs
- How to do the resistance band pallof press
- How to do the rollout
Last reviewed April 2026.