Setup

Lie on your back and raise both legs straight up toward the ceiling, feet roughly above your hips. Reach your arms up toward your toes, palms facing forward. Press your lower back into the floor and keep your legs vertical and still for the whole set — they're the target, not part of the movement.

Why the setup does the work here

Legs up and locked in place is what makes this work. Your abs can only curl your spine, and with your legs already vertical there's nothing left for your hips to do — every bit of the movement has to come from your stomach. Flat lower back is the other half: if your back arches, your ribs can't travel toward your hips and the reach turns into a shoulder shrug.

Technique

Crunch up and reach your fingertips toward your toes. Your shoulder blades come off the floor, your lower back stays down. Breathe out on the way up and squeeze your stomach hard for a second at the top. Lower under control until your shoulder blades almost touch the floor, then go again without resting. Keep your arms straight and your legs straight and still — if your feet start swinging toward your hands, you're chasing the touch instead of earning it.

Why technique decides everything here

The point isn't touching your toes — it's how far your chest travels. Most people can't reach their toes with clean form, and that's fine. What matters is that your ribs move toward your hips and your shoulder blades clear the floor. Reach without curling and your arms move while your stomach does nothing. And the moment you drop your legs toward your hands to close the gap, the exercise gets easier and stops working. Short range, real curl, every rep.

Common Mistakes

Swinging the legs down to meet the hands. Throwing the arms upward for momentum instead of curling the body. Bending the knees as the set gets hard. Lifting only the head and neck while the shoulder blades stay glued to the floor. And resting flat between reps, which kills the tension.

Where people lose results

This one is judged by the wrong thing — people watch their fingers instead of their shoulder blades. If your blades don't clear the floor, it wasn't a rep, no matter how close your hands got. Keep the legs frozen, curl hard, hold the top for a second, and when it gets easy hold a light plate in your hands rather than adding reps.