Side bend
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in one hand.
- Keep your hips stationary and bend your torso to the side holding the weight, lowering the dumbbell toward your knee.
- Use your side abdominal muscles to pull your body back up to the starting position.
Tips
- Keep your hips level and facing forward throughout the movement so the bend comes entirely from your torso, not from a hip shift.
- Lower the dumbbell in a straight line down the side of your leg, keeping it close to your body rather than letting it drift forward or backward.
- Control the return to the upright position at a steady pace rather than snapping back up, so your obliques are working through the full range.
Common mistakes
- Shifting the hip outward on the side opposite the dumbbell to initiate the bend, which moves the torso sideways rather than bending it.
- Using a swinging motion to lower the dumbbell instead of a controlled lateral bend, so the torso is not moving through its full range of motion.
Make Every Set Count.
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