The groin crunch is a bodyweight exercise targeting the abdominal muscles, with secondary emphasis on the hip flexors and inner thighs. It involves lying on your back, bringing your knees towards your chest while engaging your core.
Also Works
Hip FlexorsInner Thighs
How to Perform
1
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
2
Place your hands behind your head with your elbows pointing outwards.
3
Engaging your abs, lift your legs off the ground, bringing your knees towards your chest.
4
Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your legs back down to the starting position.
5
Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Pro Tips
•Splay your knees out to the sides in a butterfly position with the soles of your feet together to relax the hip flexors and force the abs to do the work.
•Focus on curling your ribcage toward your pelvis rather than just lifting your head and shoulders.
•Exhale fully at the top of each crunch to maximally contract the rectus abdominis.
Common Mistakes
•Pulling on the neck with the hands, which strains the cervical spine and reduces ab engagement.
•Using hip flexor momentum to lift the legs rather than initiating the movement with the abs.
•Not going through a full range of motion by only partially lifting the shoulders off the ground.