Standing Side Bend

Get rid of love handles and tighten up your waistline!

In your never ending quest to flatten your stomach and pull your waistline in, you’re gonna try a lot of different exercises. 

Although some people have completely discarded the standing side bend, I’m a fan. In order to target the obliques, and a little bit of the (Quadratus Lumborum) QL, standing side bends are really a solid exercise.

Some of the resistance that comes up with doing the exercise is the pressure it may put on your spine. And to be fair, that concern is valid, particularly if you use too much weight and go too fast. Unfortunately a lot of people do both, quite commonly.

Going too fast on this exercise definitely exposes your back to a possible tweak. Meanwhile , going up to a 45lb plate can be a mistake too because you can wind up creating a thick muscular waist (Unless, of course that’s what you want) Bt if you goal is a trim tight waist, you typically can stay at 30lbs and under

But in order to really get the best out of this exercise, it’s critical that you take your time and really feel what your abs, obliques, lower back  and QL are doing. 

The motion is reminiscent of the preschool song “I’m a little tea pot” The hips stay steady and stable, then by not using too much weight and using a deliberate motion of using your obliques, you use your core to initiate and execute the movements

1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, hold a dumbbell in one hand and place your other hand on behind your head or on your hip.

2. Engage your core and use your obliques to slowly lower the dumbbell parallel to your thigh.

3. Pause at the bottom

4. Use your obliques to slowly return to the starting position

Tip 1: Don’t go to fast because you can put unnecessary pressure on your back

Tip 2:  Be careful not to use too heavy of a weight because you can end up building a thick muscular torso