The decline oblique crunch is designed to strengthen your oblique muscles which are directly on the sides of your midsection, AKA love handles. This exercise is different from other exercises that fall within the “crunch” exercise group. To effectively do this exercise, you must twist your torso to the left or right so that the correct muscles are targeted.
Benefits
The muscles that are targeted are in the abdominal area. The main muscles are the abdominis, transverse abdominis and the oblique muscles. The secondary muscles that are targeted are the hip flexors.
Keep in mind that while doing this exercise, you need to keep your neck in alignment and breathe out while lifting your body upwards. Make sure to warm up effectively before starting this exercise to prevent injury.
How to Warm-up
In order to warm up completely, you must stretch your entire body. After stretching, you should ensure that you jog for at least 15 minutes to get your blood pumping and your body into a position where working out in a high intensity is safe.
While warming up, keep in mind that performing this exercise strengthens the abdominal muscles. It helps improve core strength as a whole. It helps define the abdominal muscles and also helps to get rid of excess fat from around your abs. This is one of the exercises you will want to perform in order to develop the best physical physique.
The Proper Form
In order to perform this exercise correctly, you will need a decline bench. Position yourself upside-down with your feet locked at the top.
Place your hands on either side of your head. Do not lock your fingers together and do not use your hands to pull yourself up. This will injure your neck.
Slowly raise your upper body, twisting your torso to the left. Focus on keeping your abs tight throughout the entire movement. Make sure your movement is slow and controlled. Continue moving until your right elbow touches your right knee.
Lower your body slowly back down to the starting position. After completing one set of 10 going to the left, switch to your other side.
Make sure that each time you pull up in the exercise, you flex your midsection as tight as possible for a full two count at the top.
How to Cool Down
Cooling down from this exercise should not be necessary. This is because this is one of the exercises that should be in the center of your workout, not toward the end. After your workout, you will want to stretch your entire body and jog for at least 10 minutes to help process out the lactic acid from your muscles. This will ensure that you do not have muscle cramps later.
One of the most important things you can do is keep yourself hydrated throughout your exercise routine. It is important that you refuel your body with carbohydrates and electrolytes after working out, to allow your muscles to rebuild themselves after you have broken them down.