Muscles worked
The toe touch crunch is a crunch with your legs pointing at the ceiling. The rectus abdominis does the bulk of the work as your upper back curls towards your toes, helped by the obliques. Your hip flexors hold your legs up, but with your legs roughly straight above your hips they do not have to work very hard. The movement is short: your shoulder blades lift, not your whole back.
Common mistakes
- Your chin is jammed into your chest. If you lead with your head, your neck tires first. Keep about a fist's width between chin and chest and let your head follow your upper body.
- You chase your toes with your hands. A rep does not count by how far your fingers reach. Think of bringing your chest towards your legs, and settle for your shins if that is where you stop.
- You force your legs dead straight. With tight hamstrings, keeping your legs vertical becomes a struggle and the focus moves to your legs instead of your abs. Bend your knees slightly so your legs stay still.
Variations and alternatives
- Crunches with your feet on the floor are an easier step if your legs are hard to hold up.
- V-ups are much harder, as both your legs and your upper body lift on every rep.
- The cable crunch trains the same curl of the spine with a weight you can raise in small steps.
Sets and reps
The short movement makes toe touches suit slightly higher reps. Aim for two to three sets of 12 to 20, with a short pause at the top of each rep and 45 to 60 seconds' rest. If you want to read more about choosing a rep range, you will find it in the guide to sets and reps.
Once 20 reps feel easy, hold a water bottle or a light weight plate and reach it towards your toes. That is a simple way to bring progressive overload into a bodyweight exercise. Another is to lower your shoulder blades over about three seconds. If your neck hurts, rather than your abs just working hard, stop the exercise and have a doctor or physiotherapist look at it.