This month on Trainer Tip Tuesday we will be discussing considerations when you are doing side bends on an incline bench. The side bend exercise targets your core muscles in one of their four primary functions, so if you aren’t doing some variation of this exercise, you are leaving your core vulnerable to be weak and your low back vulnerable to injury. This week we will be discussing where you should place the pad on the bench while doing side bends to make this exercise as effective as possible.
Depending on how much external support you would like while doing this exercise, you can choose to place the pad on the bench higher near the top of your pelvis or lower down onto your femur. The higher the pad it, the more external support will be provided to your pelvis. The lower the pad is, the more you will have to create support for your pelvis internally with your muscles.
Understanding this can help you be more strategic with your exercise decisions as well as help this exercise be more effective.
Check out all of the details in this week’s episode of Trainer Tip Tuesday, and be sure to tune back in next week as we discuss more considerations when doing side bends on an incline bench.