1. Got Love Handles?
If the flesh on your side overlaps your waistband, you have love handles. There is nothing lovely about these little dears. They simply mean that you haven't exercised that muscle group underneath, the obliques. So if you have a six-pack, but have two handles to carry it with, you need to exercise and the side crunch is just the thing to bring that V into your waist.
2. How to Do a Side Cruch
Lay flat on the floor. Bend the knees and turn them to the side. Your top half now has the back flat on the floor and from the waist down, your body rests on the hip with the legs bent. Place your hands behind your head, elbows out, and lift the shoulders off the mat and hold. Drop them down slowly and don't rest them on the mat but let them remain a little above. Raise the shoulders again and lower them slowly. Do several reps and sets and then turn your lower half of the body to the other direction to exercise that side.
3. Lift With the Obliques
Focus on the muscles when you lift. Do not use your arm strength to do the lift but use the muscle on your side, the obliques to lift your head off the mat and control the descent. Be very careful of the pressure put on your neck to avoid injury. This is an exercise for the waist; the task is not to create headaches but increase the muscle strength of the obliques. As your lift and crunch, exhale and inhale as you drop back down. Don't hold your breath!
4. Extra Tips
When you do this exercise, remember to keep your knees on the ground. Lifting them changes the muscle area doing the work. Keep the middle back on the ground slightly rounded outward and keep your head still. Think of the blades of the shoulders as the line to stop at when you rise up. Keep your chin up and not buried in the chest. Maintain body control at all times; don't just drop back--slowly move the upper body back in a controlled method.
5. Burn, Baby, Burn
Burn off that extra fat with some cardiovascular exercises. Once you get the obliques in shape, you can show off the new buff muscles after that fat is gone. The increase muscle mass created from the side crunches makes this a lot easier to do. Toned muscles burn fat faster due to the increase in muscle mass. Add extra exercise and reduce the calorie intake and the new you will look marvelous.
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