Barbell Side Bend
Trains the Abs, Obliques and Quadratus Lumborum.
- Equipment
- A barbell and a rack
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Set a light barbell across your upper back as you would for a squat, hands wide.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees soft, chest facing forward.
- Bend sideways at the waist, letting one end of the bar drop and the other rise.
- Keep the bend square on — no leaning forward, no turning.
- Come back through upright and bend the same distance to the other side.
- Rack the bar before the trunk starts wandering out of line, not after.
Common mistakes
- Loading it like a squat. The bar sits where a squat bar sits, but the muscles bending the trunk sideways are small and the weight has to reflect that. An empty bar is a reasonable starting point.
- Bending forward as well as sideways. A bar on the back makes it easy to drift into a bend that is part flexion and part rotation, which is the combination worth keeping out of a loaded lumbar spine.
- Going heavy enough that the bend turns into a lean. If the trunk stops bending and the whole body tips instead, nothing at the waist is being loaded.
- Assuming the barbell version is the harder one. A dumbbell loads one side at a time and the other side has to hold the trunk up; a bar across the back loads both sides and is easier to keep square. They are different exercises rather than a light and a heavy version of one.