How to Do the Heel Touch for Stronger and More Sculpted Obliques

Crunches and planks can get boring, and if you want to build well-rounded core strength, you need to mix up your routine with heel touches, which specifically target your obliques, aka your side ab muscles.

Strengthening your obliques is essential for carrying out daily tasks that involve rotating and flexing your torso. Think: bending to the side to reach for something. And that's the exact movement pattern the heel touch trains you to do.

• ​​What are heel touches?​​ Also known as the oblique heel tap, side heel touches or alternate heel touches, it's a body-weight exercise that involves lying on your back with your knees bent and arms by your sides and bending to one side to touch your hand to your heel.
• ​What do heel touches work?​ "They work several of your abdominal muscles, including your transverse abdominis, which is your deepest core muscle and is super important for protecting your spine and internal organs," says Jonathan Jordan, certified personal trainer and nutrition coach. "They also hit your upper and lower abs and the rectus abdominis — the six-pack muscles. Most notably, the heel touch targets your oblique muscles, which are responsible for side bending."
• ​Who can do this exercise?​​ People of all fitness levels who want to build a strong core can do heel touches.

The heel touches exercise is first a foremost an abs exercise. It targets your main core muscles, including your transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis and obliques, which run along the sides of your torso.

Your obliques are important for rotational and side bending movements, so strengthening these muscles are important for carrying out daily activities.

By doing heel touches to build a strong core, you can also help prevent and reduce low back pain. In fact, a January 2017 review in the ​Journal of Athletic Training​ found that core stability exercises can help reduce low back pain more than general exercise.

"So many people spend the greater part of their days sitting and typing away on devices with less than ideal posture which leads to weak, deactivated core muscles," Jordan says. "When we finally get up and go do the activities we love, such as weight lifting, tennis, golf or even just bending over to pick something up, we can trigger a spinal injury."

Exercises like the heel touch can help shore up your core so that you can do everyday activities more comfortably.

An added bonus of the side-to-side movement in this exercise is that it improves flexibility and mobility in your spine.

You may find that when initially doing this move, you may not quite be able to touch your heels — which could be due to core weakness or reduced flexibility. As both of these things improve, you will be able to touch your heel with greater ease.

You don't need much space or fancy fitness equipment to do this ab exercise, so you can do them anywhere, any time.

As you perfect this move, you can make it more difficult by using dumbbells or resistance bands, but again, all you need is your body and a comfortable spot to lie on the floor.

To get the maximum benefits from the heel touch, you need to make sure you're doing them with proper form. It's a fairly simple move, but you want to make sure you aren't straining your neck and are engaging your core throughout this move.

"Make sure you are lifting your head and chest up toward the ceiling versus 'crunching' and rounding toward your chest," Jordan says.

"Keep that thoracic spine in a neutral position or even in a little extension versus flexion," meaning bent backward a tad versus rounded forward. This ensures that you are using your core muscles to do the work and aren't straining your neck.

"If you feel pain or discomfort in your lower back, or any joints, stop immediately," Jordan says. "These look simple, but they are actually advanced. Lateral flexion — side bending — and rotation can commonly cause injury (such as bulging discs) to worn, compromised spinal joints or cause muscle spasms."

It is always important to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program. If something doesn't feel right, stop the exercise immediately and consult your doctor before starting up again.

"Slow it down. Move deliberately and with control, versus hurrying and with momentum," Jordan says.

Moving slowly and with control means the work is coming from your obliques and not your neck or back.

"Don't stress if you can't reach your heels. Start with a range of motion that works for you, and over time, you will safely get deeper," Jordan adds.

Once you have mastered the basic heel touch, it is time to challenge yourself. Jordan shares three heel touch variations that will further strengthen your core.

Using light dumbbells adds another layer of resistance to this exercise, making it more challenging to keep your core contracted and your arms straight and off the ground.

This variation levels up the classic move by making it more difficult to bring your hand to touch your heels. Start with a light resistance and progress to using medium and heavy resistance as you get stronger. Just make sure you're still doing the exercise with proper form.

The spider plank is a progression of the heel touch. It's a more advanced move because you are working against gravity, which further challenges your core. Make sure you keep your abdominals contracted throughout the entire move.