Dumbbell Side Bend

oec:dumbbell-side-bend

A standing lateral trunk exercise targeting the obliques and quadratus lumborum by flexing and extending the spine laterally against single-sided resistance.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: Side Crunch, Standing Dumbbell Side Bend, Dumbbell Side Flexion, Side bends, Side Dumbbell Trunk Flexion, Side bend

How to do it

Setup

Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart and knees soft.
Hold a dumbbell in one hand at your side with an arm hanging straight and a neutral grip.
Place your free hand behind your head or resting on your opposite hip.

Movement

Keeping your hips square and shoulders facing forward, slowly bend your torso laterally toward the weighted side until you feel a gentle stretch in the opposite flank.
Contract the obliques on the unweighted side to pull your torso smoothly back to the upright position.
Optionally continue slightly past vertical into a modest lateral contraction, then return to center under control.
Complete all repetitions on one side before switching the dumbbell to the opposite hand.

Breathing

Inhale as you laterally lower the weight down the side of your thigh, and exhale as you contract your obliques to return upright.

Cues

Bend directly sideways without leaning forward or twisting.
Move strictly from the spine while keeping your pelvis stationary.
Pull with your opposite waist to stand tall.

Common faults

Holding dumbbells in both hands simultaneously, which creates a counterbalance and eliminates tension on the target muscles.: Hold only one dumbbell at a time so your lateral core must work against an asymmetrical load.
Rotating the hips or flexing forward at the waist during the bend.: Move strictly within the frontal plane as if sliding your back along a flat wall.
Using excessive momentum or over-bending past an active, pain-free range of motion.: Use a controlled tempo and lower the dumbbell only as far as comfortable lateral spinal flexion allows.

Safety

Avoid aggressive overbending or bouncing at the bottom of the movement to protect the lumbar spine.

Muscles

External oblique prime mover
Internal oblique prime mover
Quadratus lumborum prime mover
Erector spinae synergist
Rectus abdominis stabilizer
Wrist and finger flexors stabilizer

Joints

Lumbar spine: Lateral flexion
Thoracic spine: Lateral flexion

Details

Movement: Lateral flexion
Modality: Hypertrophy, Strength
Mechanics: isolation
Force: not applicable
Laterality: unilateral
Kinetic chain: open
Level: beginner
Equipment: Dumbbell
Record: Repetitions and Load
Load: external, total

substitute for Machine Side Bend
progression of Standing Side Crunch

Sources

wger: Side Crunch, by kwrindy (CC-BY-SA-3.0)
wger: Side Dumbbell Trunk Flexion, by GiglioRosso (CC-BY-SA-3.0)
wger: Side bend (CC-BY-SA-4.0)
wger: Dumbbell Side Bend, by AlucardEvil40 (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

dumbbell-side-bend.json