For your abs

Hanging Knee Raise vs Machine Crunch

For your abs, machine crunch rates well ahead on our research criteria: easier to progress, more of the work on the abs.

Both are good choices that train the abs the same way, so they swap freely. Rotating between them every few weeks is an easy way to vary your training.

Research score

Target tension

Strong

Excellent

Loaded stretch

Good

Progression

Fair

Excellent

Low cost

Excellent

See the full abs ranking

What these mean

Target tension.: Whether the muscle you’re training is what gives out first, not your grip, balance or other muscles.
Loaded stretch.: How hard the muscle works while stretched. Training it there is linked to more growth.
Progression.: How easily you can keep adding weight in small steps over months and years.
Low cost.: How easy it is on your joints and recovery, and how quickly you can learn it.

The research score comes from these, scored by hand from the studies. Lifter scores appear once an exercise has 10 ratings. How scores work

When each one fits

Good reasons to choose hanging knee raise

You train at home

Good reasons to choose machine crunch

You want to keep adding weight in small steps
You want the abs to do the work, not other muscles

Hanging Knee Raise

Machine Crunch

You need

Pull-up bar

Machine

Skill

Easy to learn

Type

Isolation

Why they rank where they do

Machine Crunch. Loaded spinal flexion on a fixed path, easy to progress like any other machine.

Questions

Which is better for your abs, hanging knee raise or machine crunch?

For your abs, machine crunch rates well ahead on our research criteria: easier to progress, more of the work on the abs. Both are good choices that train the abs the same way, so they swap freely. Rotating between them every few weeks is an easy way to vary your training.

Is hanging knee raise or machine crunch easier to learn?

About the same: both are easy to learn.

Can you do hanging knee raise or machine crunch at home?

Hanging knee raise needs a pull-up bar, so a home gym covers it. Machine crunch needs a machine, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.

Which is easier on the joints, hanging knee raise or machine crunch?

About the same: both rate Excellent for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric.

More comparisons

Hanging Knee Raise Machine Crunch All abs exercises

Hanging Knee Raise vs Machine Crunch

For your abs, machine crunch rates well ahead on our research criteria: easier to progress, more of the work on the abs.

Both are good choices that train the abs the same way, so they swap freely. Rotating between them every few weeks is an easy way to vary your training.

What these mean

Target tension.: Whether the muscle you’re training is what gives out first, not your grip, balance or other muscles.
Loaded stretch.: How hard the muscle works while stretched. Training it there is linked to more growth.
Progression.: How easily you can keep adding weight in small steps over months and years.
Low cost.: How easy it is on your joints and recovery, and how quickly you can learn it.

The research score comes from these, scored by hand from the studies. Lifter scores appear once an exercise has 10 ratings. How scores work

When each one fits

Good reasons to choose hanging knee raise

You train at home

Good reasons to choose machine crunch

You want to keep adding weight in small steps
You want the abs to do the work, not other muscles

Hanging Knee Raise

Machine Crunch

You need

Pull-up bar

Machine

Skill

Easy to learn

Type

Isolation

Why they rank where they do

Machine Crunch. Loaded spinal flexion on a fixed path, easy to progress like any other machine.

Questions

Which is better for your abs, hanging knee raise or machine crunch?

Is hanging knee raise or machine crunch easier to learn?

About the same: both are easy to learn.

Can you do hanging knee raise or machine crunch at home?

Hanging knee raise needs a pull-up bar, so a home gym covers it. Machine crunch needs a machine, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.

Which is easier on the joints, hanging knee raise or machine crunch?

About the same: both rate Excellent for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric.