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Lateral Flexions
This bodybuilding exercise refines and firms the waist if you work without weight. It develops the obliques located on the side of the waist, if you use increasingly heavier weights.
Targeted Muscles
It works the oblique muscles of the abdominals, quadratus lumborum and lumbar. Large and small obliques are part of the abdominal strap along with the rectus abdominis and the transversus.
Execution of the exercise
Starting position standing, feet shoulder-width apart. Lower the dumbbell close to the body, arms straight, avoiding leaning the trunk forward and tightening the gluteal muscles. Slowly come back up until the shoulders are parallel to the hips.
The amplitude is low, you should not go too low and especially without sudden movements.
Work one side then the other, without pause, trying to feel the contraction of the obliques. Maintain tension in the muscle by avoiding pauses in the top position.
If you are working with a dumbbell and it rubs against your thigh during the descent, move it away from the body by contracting your shoulder. For the climb, do nothing because the friction makes the exercise more difficult.
Breathing
As the muscles are constantly contracted, it is difficult to breathe easily. Inhale as you lower the weight and exhale as you ascend.
Safety instructions
Lateral bends, like rotations in some cases, are abdominal exercises that are risky for the spine. It is often recommended to perform the exercise by tilting the bust to the right side then going back up and tilting it to the left side, all this going down as low as possible.
In the demonstration, the athlete only performs one side at a time. The execution speed is slow and constant. We can notice that the spine allows more amplitude when tilting in forward flexion compared to lateral flexion, this comes from the shape of the vertebrae. It is therefore not necessary to seek excessive amplitude.
Note that to see your abs, especially the obliques, you will need to be sufficiently dry. This often requires implementing a diet that will help you get rid of the fat covering your abs.
This abdominal exercise can be replaced by lateral chest bends on the lumbar bench, floor crunches with rotation, suspended leg raises or dynamic lateral chest raises .