10 Best Cocoons Alternatives for Home Workouts

What can you do instead of Cocoons? Use hollow-body hold, dead bug, plank knee tucks, side plank hip dips and standing woodchoppers to target the rectus abdominis and obliques with low spine compression. Cue hollow hold: press your lower back into the floor, ribs down, legs ~20–30° to load the lower abs.

Original Exercise: Cocoons

Cocoons
Primary Muscle
Abs
Equipment
Body-weight
Difficulty
Beginner
Type
Isolation
Secondary Muscles: Hip Flexors, Lower Back
How to Perform Cocoons
  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, slowly lift your upper body off the ground, curling forward until your torso is at a 45-degree angle.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your upper body back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Best Cocoons Alternatives

Best Match
Decline Crunch

1. Decline Crunch

94.7% Match
Abs Body-weight Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie on a decline bench with your feet secured and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle.
  2. Place your hands behind your head or across your chest.
  3. Engage your abs and lift your upper body towards your knees, curling your torso.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your upper body back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Crunch (on Stability Ball, Arms Straight)

2. Crunch (on Stability Ball, Arms Straight)

94.4% Match
Abs Stability-ball Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Sit on the stability ball with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle.
  2. Lie back on the ball until your lower back is supported and your upper body is parallel to the floor.
  3. Place your hands behind your head or cross them over your chest.
  4. Engage your abs and lift your upper body off the ball, curling your shoulders towards your hips.
  5. Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your upper body back down to the starting position.
Crunch (on Stability Ball)

3. Crunch (on Stability Ball)

93.9% Match
Abs Stability-ball Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Sit on the stability ball with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle.
  2. Lie back on the ball until your lower back is supported and your upper body is parallel to the floor.
  3. Place your hands behind your head or across your chest.
  4. Engage your abs and lift your upper body towards your knees, curling your torso forward.
  5. Pause for a moment at the top of the movement, then slowly lower your upper body back down to the starting position.
Crunch (hands Overhead)

4. Crunch (hands Overhead)

93.3% Match
Abs Body-weight Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
  2. Extend your arms straight above your head.
  3. Engaging your abs, lift your upper body off the ground, curling forward towards your knees.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your upper body back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Crunch Floor

5. Crunch Floor

93.3% Match
Abs Body-weight Beginner Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  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. Engage your abs and lift your shoulders off the ground, curling forward towards your knees.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your shoulders back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Arms Overhead Full Sit-up (male)

6. Arms Overhead Full Sit-up (male)

92.1% Match
Abs Body-weight Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
  2. Extend your arms overhead, keeping them straight.
  3. Engaging your abs, slowly lift your upper body off the ground, curling forward until your torso is upright.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your upper body back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Exercise Ball Crunch

7. Exercise Ball Crunch

89.4% Match
Abs Stability-ball Beginner Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie on an exercise ball with your lower back curvature pressed against the spherical surface of the ball. Your feet should be bent at the knee and pressed firmly against the floor. The upper torso should be hanging off the top of the ball. The arms should either be kept alongside the body or crossed on top of your chest as these positions avoid neck strains (as opposed to the hands behind the back of the head position).
  2. Lower your torso into a stretch position keeping the neck stationary at all times. This will be your starting position.
  3. With the hips stationary, flex the waist by contracting the abdominals and curl the shoulders and trunk upward until you feel a nice contraction on your abdominals. The arms should simply slide up the side of your legs if you have them at the side or just stay on top of your chest if you have them crossed. The lower back should always stay in contact with the ball. Exhale as you perform this movement and hold the contraction for a second.
  4. As you inhale, go back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Decline Sit-up

8. Decline Sit-up

89.2% Match
Abs Body-weight Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie on a decline bench with your feet secured and your knees bent.
  2. Place your hands behind your head or across your chest.
  3. Engage your abs and lift your upper body off the bench, curling forward towards your knees.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your upper body back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Butt-ups

9. Butt-ups

88.9% Match
Abs Body-weight Beginner Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
  2. Place your hands by your sides, palms facing down.
  3. Engaging your abs, lift your legs off the ground, bringing your knees towards your chest.
  4. At the top of the movement, squeeze your abs and pause for a moment.
  5. Slowly lower your legs back down to the starting position.
Cross Body Crunch

10. Cross Body Crunch

88.4% Match
Abs Body-weight Beginner Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  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 upper body off the ground and twist to bring your right elbow towards your left knee.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your upper body back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat on the other side, bringing your left elbow towards your right knee.

Why You Might Need a Cocoons Alternative

You might swap Cocoons because of lumbar discomfort, limited range of motion, lack of progress, or no access to a coached progression. Cocoons often emphasize spinal flexion and short-range abdominal isolation; that can aggravate lower-back pain for some. Alternatives shift the demand to anti-extension, anti-rotation, or controlled eccentric work to recruit the rectus and obliques differently. For example, use the dead bug: brace your core, flatten the lumbar spine, and slowly extend one leg while keeping the opposite shoulder blades on the floor to maintain transverse abdominis engagement.

How to Choose the Right Substitute

Pick a substitute based on your goal (endurance, hypertrophy, or stability), spinal tolerance, and movement pattern. If you need less flexion, choose anti-extension moves like hollow holds or planks; cue hollow hold by pressing lower back into the floor. If you need anti-rotation, choose standing woodchoppers and keep ribs stacked over hips while rotating. For progressive overload, increase range, time under tension, or add unilateral challenges like single-leg plank knee tucks. Prioritize exercises that let you maintain a neutral spine and consistent core bracing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What muscles does Cocoons work?

Cocoons primarily targets the rectus abdominis and upper obliques through isolated trunk flexion. The movement increases abdominal short-range activation; maintain posterior pelvic tilt to maximize rectus abdominis recruitment and limit hip flexor substitution.

What is the best bodyweight alternative to Cocoons?

The hollow-body hold is the top bodyweight alternative because it loads the entire anterior core without repeated spinal flexion. Cue it by pressing your low back to the floor, drawing ribs down, and holding legs and shoulders off the ground to tax the lower abs.

Can I build muscle without doing Cocoons?

Yes — you can build abdominal muscle with progressive bodyweight and loaded variations. Use longer time-under-tension, eccentrics, or resistance (weighted planks, cable chops) and focus on consistent core bracing and controlled range of motion to drive hypertrophy.

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