maratoolDecline Oblique Crunch
How to do the decline oblique crunch
- This version of a decline crunch isolates the oblique (side) muscles of the abs.
- Lie on a decline bench face up.
- Place your feet securely under the pads.
- Place your hands either across your chest or on either side of your head (over your ears).
- Raise your shoulders and chest up keeping your back straight and bring your left elbow to your right knee, slowly crunching your abs.
- Pause for a moment and then return to the starting position.
- Lay fully back and repeat with your right elbow to your left knee.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the rectus abdominis and the obliques, which flex the trunk forward and resist it being pulled into extension or twisted out of line.
Every exercise for:Abdominals
How this movement works
The load travels toward you and several joints bend to bring it there. The arms finish work the back starts, so grip and elbow flexors sit in the path of every repetition: when people stall on a compound pull, it is more often the hands giving out than the primary muscle running out of force.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
No equipment at all. The resistance is your own bodyweight, so you progress by changing leverage, range or tempo rather than by adding plates — and you can do it anywhere.
Every exercise using:Body only
These train the abdominals too, using equipment this one does not:
- Double Kettlebell Windmillkettlebell
- Exercise Ball Crunchexercise ball
- Kneeling Cable Crunch With Alternating Oblique Twistscable
- Landmine 180'sbarbell
- Medicine Ball Full Twistmedicine ball
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 97 abdominals exercises in this database, 69 are listed at beginner level.
Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.