How to do the Bicycle Crunch
Step by step
- Lie on your back, hands lightly behind your head, knees lifted over your hips.
- Curl up and rotate so one elbow travels toward the opposite knee.
- At the same time, straighten the other leg out without letting it touch the floor.
- Switch sides in a smooth pedaling rhythm, twisting from your torso each time.
The thing people get wrong
Rotate through your ribs and abs, not by tugging your head - keep it slow enough to feel each twist rather than racing.
Coaching cue
Drive your shoulder toward the knee rather than just swinging the elbow across.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Keep both feet on the floor and just alternate the twist.
- Harder: Extend the straight leg lower and hold each twist for a beat.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Core
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.