Core · Cable
Cable Seated Crunch
How to do the cable seated crunch, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Cable
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Flexion
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Attach a rope to a high cable pulley and sit on a bench facing away from or toward the stack with the rope held beside your head. Crunch your rib cage down toward your pelvis by rounding your spine, then return slowly to an upright stretch.
- 1A strong contraction through your entire abdominal wall
- 2Rib cage curling down toward your hips
- 3Abs doing the work, not your arms or hips
Common mistakes
- Pulling the rope down with your arms
- Hinging from the hip flexors instead of crunching the abs
- Jerking through the rep with momentum
Muscles worked
The cable seated crunch mainly works the upper abs and lower abs, with the obliques assisting.
- Upper AbsPrimary
- Lower AbsPrimary
- ObliquesSupport
- QuadsMinor
- Hip FlexorsMinor
Kovo programs the cable seated crunch 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 June 2026.