Oblique Crunches

How to perform

1. 01Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. For this exercise, you will need to put one hand beside your head and the other to the side against the floor.
2. 02Make sure your feet are elevated and resting on a flat surface.
3. 03Now lift the shoulder in which your hand is touching your head.
4. 04Simply elevate your shoulder and body upward until you touch your knee. For example, if you have your right hand besides your head, then you want to elevate your body upwards until your right elbow touches your left knee. The same variation can be applied doing the inverse and using your left elbow to touch your right knee.
5. 05After your knee touches your elbow, lower your body until you have reached the starting position.
6. 06Remember to breathe in during the eccentric (lowering) part of the exercise and to breathe out during the concentric (upward) part of the exercise.
7. 07Continue alternating in this manner until all of the recommended repetitions for each side have been completed.

Form cues

• —Lead with the elbows and finish by squeezing the target muscle.
• —Control the lowering phase — that is where most of the growth stimulus lives.

Common mistakes

• —Using momentum instead of the target muscle.
• —Cutting the range of motion short to add load.