Oblique Crunch
Trains the Abs and Obliques.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Lie on your back with your knees bent, then drop both knees to one side so the hips are turned.
- Keep your shoulders flat on the floor and your fingertips beside your ears.
- Press the lower back gently down.
- Curl your shoulders straight up off the floor, keeping the hips turned.
- Stop where the trunk stops flexing, then hold briefly.
- Lower under control, then finish the side before swapping.
Common mistakes
- Letting the knees come back to centre as you curl. The turned hips are what put the obliques on stretch; letting them return makes it an ordinary crunch.
- Twisting the shoulders toward the knees. The shoulders travel straight up; adding a twist on top of turned hips asks the spine to rotate under a flexing load.
- Pulling on the head with the hands. Fingertips beside the ears, neck in line with the spine.
- Expecting a long range. The trunk flexes a few inches, and reaching further comes from the hips or the neck.