Dumbbell Side Bend
Trains the Abs, Obliques and Quadratus Lumborum.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Stand with a dumbbell in one hand at your side, feet hip-width apart.
- Rest the free hand on your head or your hip so it cannot help.
- Keeping your chest facing forward, bend sideways toward the loaded side and let the dumbbell slide down your thigh.
- Go as far as the trunk bends without the hips sliding across or the torso turning.
- Bend back up through upright and a little way over to the other side.
- Finish the set, then swap hands and match it.
Common mistakes
- Holding a dumbbell in each hand. The two loads cancel each other out and the trunk is left carrying weight rather than bending against it.
- Letting the hips slide sideways as you bend. The hips stay under the shoulders; sliding them across shortens the bend at the waist to almost nothing.
- Turning the torso as it bends. Lateral flexion and rotation are different jobs, and mixing them under load makes the movement harder to control without loading anything more.
- Doing them to narrow the waist. Side bends load the obliques and the quadratus lumborum through lateral flexion, which is worth doing on its own terms; where fat sits is not decided by which muscle is trained underneath it.