Dumbbell Side-To-Sides

Why Is This Exercise So Effective?

Developing the core muscles of your abdomen is essential for optimum lifting and sports performance. This exercise uses resistance and a side-to-side movement to directly work the muscles that are responsible for transferring power through your body.

How To Do It

This exercise is very simple to execute but is extremely effective.

• Start by sitting sideways on a flat bench. Place a dumbbell standing vertically on end on the bench to one side of you. When you first do this exercise, start with a fairly light weight in order to accustom your body to the movement.
  
  
• It is important that you keep your upper body vertical and your lower back tight and arched for proper support. Your abs should also remain tight throughout the exercise.
  
  
• Rotate your torso around to the side where the dumbbell is resting and pick up the dumbbell with both hands on the handle.
  
  
• After you’ve picked it up, rotate your body all the way to the other side of the bench, and set the dumbbell down on the bench (it should be standing on end while you continue to hold onto it).
  
  
• Be sure to keep your midsection very tight all the way around.
  
  
• Hold your breath from the moment you pick up the dumbbell to the moment you set it down. This ensures that you stabilize your abdomen properly.
  
  
• Repeat the lift and rotate movement back to the other side.

It is important to note that you should always set the dumbbell down on the bench in between reps and relax your abdominal area momentarily. One of the most beneficial aspects of this exercise is the moment when you pick up the weight from the bench. If you utilize a continuous movement, you will decrease the benefits of the exercise.

How to incorporate this exercise into your workouts:

This exercise strongly affects the core muscles of your body.

• Do this exercise last in your exercise routine even if you normally do abdominal work first.
  
  
• The reason for this is that if your core muscles are fatigued, it can compromise your form on exercises that require core stability, e.g. squats or deadlifts.
  
  
• If you work your abs as the last body part in your workout (e.g. back then chest then abs), you can do this exercise first in that ab routine (recommended).

Common Errors

1. Relaxing the abdomen

This will compromise the stability of your lower back and could potentially lead to injury. Be absolutely sure to keep your abdominal area tight throughout the entire rotation.

2. Hunching over

Make sure you maintain an upright torso position. Hunching over can also lead to lower back strain.

3. Rotating too fast

This exercise should be performed slowly and under complete control at all times. Rotating quickly to the other side could seriously torque the lower back. This ultimately defeats the purpose of the exercise all together, which is placing tension on the rotating and supporting muscles of the midsection

Tricks

1. Increasing the resistance during the set

The typical way to increase resistance would be to use a bigger dumbbell. There is, however, a way you can adjust the resistance on your abs during the set itself. This is accomplished by simply adjusting where you hold the dumbbell.

Holding the dumbbell in close to your body will put the least torque on the muscles. Extending your arms away from your body will increase the torque on your muscles.

2. Kneeling

This exercise can also be done on the floor in a kneeling position.

Set the dumbbell on end on the ground immediately beside you. Turn your body, reach down and pick up the dumbbell, then rotate your body around to the other side. The effect of the exercise is essentially the same. Only the angle of pull on your abdominal area is different.

3. The Pause

If you want to make your rectus abdominus (the front six-pack ab muscles) scream, try stopping your rotation halfway through the movement. You should be facing forward. Hold the weight out in front of you for as long as you can then continue the rotation.