Kneeling glideboard crunch

Muscles worked

How to do it

1. Kneel on the carriage of the core glideboard trainer, forearms on the top pad, hands on the handle.
2. Set your trunk in a neutral position, brace your abs, and look toward the pad in front of you.
3. Take a breath in, then pull your knees toward your chest to slide the carriage up while keeping your core tight.
4. Lift until you feel a strong abdominal contraction without excessively rounding your upper back.
5. Slide back down slowly, controlling the carriage and not letting your lower back sag.
6. Return close to the starting position, then start the next rep with the same smooth control.

Common mistakes

• Letting the lower back sag on the way down

  Instead : Stay braced the whole time. Think about gently bringing your ribs toward your hips and slow down the descent so you can fully control the carriage.

• Pulling mostly with the arms and shoulders

  Instead : Your forearms are mainly there for support. Focus on starting the movement by pulling your knees toward your chest and tightening your abs.

• Moving too fast and losing control of the carriage

  Instead : Use a slower tempo, especially on the way down, around 2 to 3 seconds. Pick an incline where you can control every rep.

• Going too high and dumping your weight forward

  Instead : Stop the upward motion once your abs are strongly contracted. Keep steady pressure through your forearms on the pad instead of diving your shoulder forward.

Coach tips

• Keep your breathing steady: inhale as you slide down, exhale as you pull your knees toward your chest.
• Think about gently bringing your ribs closer to your hips so you feel the work in your core and rely less on your hips.
• Start with an easier incline on the machine, then increase the difficulty only once you can control all your reps.
• Keep your shoulders stable and away from your ears so your core does more of the work and your upper body doesn’t tire out too fast.

Variations

• Top-half range of motion to keep constant tension on the abs if the full descent feels too demanding at first.
• Add a 1–2 second pause at the top position to increase time under tension without changing the load.
• Use a slow negative (about 3 seconds down) to challenge your core control more without adjusting the machine.

Equipment

• Core glideboard trainerAt all 76 gyms GoSet follows

Alternatives for the same muscles

• Machine crunchCore
• Smith machine hanging leg raiseCore
• Kneeling cable crunchCore
• Captain’s chair knee raiseCore
• Captain’s chair leg raiseCore
• Decline crunchCore

Common questions