Open Exercise

Development draft, v0. Formats and IDs may change.

Catalogue

Vertical Leg Crunch

oec:vertical-leg-crunch

A supine bodyweight abdominal exercise where the legs are held extended vertically while flexing the spine to lift the shoulder blades off the floor.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: Crunches With Legs Up, Toe Touch Crunch, Legs-Up Crunch, Toe Reach

How to do it

Setup

  1. Lie flat on your back on a mat.
  2. Raise your legs straight up toward the ceiling so your hips are flexed at approximately ninety degrees.
  3. Extend your arms upward toward your feet or place your fingertips lightly behind your ears without pulling on your neck.

Movement

  1. Contract your abdominals to curl your upper torso upward, lifting your shoulder blades off the floor.
  2. Reach your hands toward your toes or ankles at the peak of the contraction.
  3. Pause briefly at the top to fully squeeze the abdominals.
  4. Lower your upper back smoothly toward the floor under control without letting your lower back arch or legs drop.

Breathing

Exhale as you curl up and reach toward your feet; inhale as you lower back down.

Cues

  • Ribs to hips.
  • Reach up, not forward.
  • Keep legs steady over hips.

Common faults

Swinging the legs back and forth to generate momentum.
Keep the hips stacked at ninety degrees and hold the legs motionless throughout the movement.
Pulling on the head and yanking the cervical spine.
Keep the neck neutral with the chin slightly tucked, focusing on lifting the chest with the abdominals.

Safety

  • Maintain a slight bend in the knees if tight hamstrings prevent holding the legs perpendicular to the floor.

Muscles

  • Rectus abdominis prime mover
  • External oblique synergist
  • Internal oblique synergist
  • Iliopsoas stabilizer
  • Rectus femoris stabilizer

Joints

  • Thoracic spine: Flexion
  • Lumbar spine: Flexion
  • Hip: Isometric stabilization

Details

Movement
Spinal flexion
Modality
Calisthenics, Hypertrophy
Mechanics
isolation
Force
pull
Laterality
bilateral
Kinetic chain
open
Level
beginner
Equipment
None
Record
Repetitions
Load
bodyweight, not applicable

Related

Sources

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

vertical-leg-crunch.json