Core · Bodyweight
Tuck Crunch
How to do the tuck 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
- Isolation
How to do it
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet off the floor, hands lightly behind your head. Crunch your upper body up while pulling your knees in toward your chest so your torso and thighs meet in the middle. Squeeze your abs at the top, then lower back to the start under control.
- 1A strong contraction through your entire abdominal wall as you tuck
- 2Your upper body and knees meeting in the middle
- 3A controlled lower back to the start, keeping tension on the abs
Common mistakes
- Avoid pulling your head forward with your hands
- Don't use momentum to fling your knees and torso together
- Stay smooth; no jerky motions or excessive swinging
Muscles worked
The tuck crunch mainly works the upper abs and lower abs, with the obliques and hip flexors assisting.
- Upper AbsPrimary
- Lower AbsPrimary
- ObliquesSupport
- Hip FlexorsSupport
- QuadsMinor
Kovo programs the tuck 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.