What equipment do you need for the crunch?

The crunch is a bodyweight exercise and needs no equipment.

What is a good crunch?

For men, a good crunch is about 64 reps, the Gold (intermediate) standard in Kovo. Beginners manage around 12 reps, and the Champion standard is 155 reps. For women, it runs from about 7 reps to 131 reps. The tier table above lists every rank.

Core · Bodyweight

Crunch

How to do the crunch, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.

Equipment: Bodyweight
Difficulty: Beginner
Logged as: Weighted reps
Movement: Core Hold
Mechanic: Accessory

Find more:Abs & Core exercises Bodyweight exercises

How to do it

Lie on your back with knees bent. Lift your shoulders off the floor by engaging your core, and lower back down.

1Feel your upper abs curling your ribcage toward your pelvis
2Maintain tension in your core by keeping your lower back on the mat
3Exhale as you crunch to intensify the contraction

Common mistakes

Avoid pulling on your neck or yanking your head up
Don't let your feet lift or use momentum
Avoid arching your lower back during the movement

Muscles worked

The crunch mainly works the upper abs and lower abs, with the obliques assisting.

Upper AbsPrimary
Lower AbsPrimary
ObliquesSupport
QuadsMinor

Crunch strength standards

See how your crunch ranks, from Bronze to Champion. These are the same standards the Kovo app uses to rank your lifts.

Bronze12 reps
Silver25 reps
Gold64 reps
Platinum107 reps
Diamond132 reps
Champion155 reps

Find your rank

Enter your best set of reps.

Reps

Kovo tracks this rank automatically as you train, across every lift, and levels you up as you get stronger.

Kovo programs the 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.

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More abs & core exercises

See all abs & core exercises →

Last reviewed April 2026.