Twisted Plank Crunch

3-POINT SET-UP:

1. Hands on your (carriage/platform)

2. Tippy-toes on your (carriage/platform) Cross your __ foot over your __

3. Hips up in a twisted plank position and hold

Body Part • Direction • Action Verb:

• FREEZE your shoulders and your hips.

• BEND your knees to pull your carriage in

• PRESS back to your twisted plank position

Range of Motion:

• Stop your knees directly under your hips (or before you start to round your spine)

 Kinetic Checkpoints:

HEAD:
❌ Allow your head to hang or look up into the mirror

✅ Maintain a neutral head/neck throughout the movement. Eyes are looking at the platform
✅ Imagine the back of your head pressing up towards the ceiling (this is usually better as a hands-on correction instead of a verbal cue - ask the client to press the back of their head into your hand)

SHOULDERS:
❌ Sink into your shoulders or “rise up out of your shoulders” too much
❌ SHRUGGING!

✅ Neutral shoulder blade position (Think: wide collarbone)
✅ Option to *slightly rotate your biceps forward to externally rotate the shoulders and prevent the shoulders from rolling forward

HIPS:
❌ Arch your lower back or tuck your hips under
❌ Round your spine in a “crunching” action (spinal flexion)
❌ Allow your hips to pike up towards the ceiling (unless you are intentionally doing so as a variation we call “cannonball”)

✅ Maintain neutral spine and neutral pelvis throughout the range of motion
✅ Keep your hips in line with your shoulders. Not higher or lower.

KNEES:
❌ Bring your knees all the way to your chest

✅ Stop your knees directly under your hips or at a 90 degree bend

HANDS/FEET:
❌ Excessively flex (bend) your wrists

✅ Aim for a comfortable and neutral grip on the platform/carriage

OPTION: This exercise is most commonly performed with your inner thighs engaged (and therefore your pelvic floor and deep core stabilizers) BUT you may also teach a variation with a wide stance

Talking Points:

• This exercise is about maintaining a NEUTRAL spine as you bend your knees and straighten your legs

• This exercise is NOT about rounding your back or “crunching” the carriage in <- this is very confusing because the word “crunch” is in the name 🙈

• There is a strong tendency to tuck your hips under as you bend your knees in - think about “lifting your tailbone” or “slightly arching your back” as you bend your knees in to fight that tendency and maintain a true neutral spine

• Ideally your spine and your hips would NOT move at all during the range of motion

• The movement here is MOSTLY knee flexion and extension with some HIP flexion and extension as well. There is NOT spinal flexion or extension.