Core · Bodyweight
Downward Dog Crunch
How to do the downward dog crunch, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Flexion
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Start in a downward dog position with hips high and body in an inverted V. Drive one knee toward your chest or nose, rounding your spine and crunching your abs, then press back to the inverted V and repeat.
- 1Squeeze your abs hard as you pull the knee in and round your back
- 2Press the floor away through your hands to hold the shoulders strong
- 3Drive your hips back up to full length each time you reset
Common mistakes
- Don't let your shoulders collapse or your back sag
- Don't just swing the leg; lead with the abs
- Don't let your hips drop low between reps
Muscles worked
The downward dog crunch mainly works the upper abs and lower abs, with the obliques, front delts, hip flexors, triceps, forearms, mid chest, lats, upper traps, quads, and hamstrings assisting.
- Upper AbsPrimary
- Lower AbsPrimary
- ObliquesSupport
- Front DeltsSupport
- Hip FlexorsSupport
- TricepsSupport
- ForearmsSupport
- Mid ChestSupport
- LatsSupport
- Upper TrapsSupport
- QuadsSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- GlutesMinor
- CalvesMinor
Kovo programs the downward dog 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.