{"id":8297,"date":"2021-03-23T19:23:01","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T00:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/?p=8297"},"modified":"2021-03-23T19:23:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T00:23:01","slug":"if-you-want-a-smaller-waist-stop-doing-this-ab-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/if-you-want-a-smaller-waist-stop-doing-this-ab-exercise\/","title":{"rendered":"If You Want a Smaller Waist &#8211; Stop Doing This Ab Exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8299\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Image-from-iOS-15.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Image-from-iOS-15.jpg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Image-from-iOS-15.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Image-from-iOS-15.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is a WIDER waist one of your physique goals? We are guessing the answer is .. no!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But there is <\/span><b><i>a really popular ab exercise<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you may be doing, that could be giving you bigger obliques. As a result\u2026 the appearance of a wider, thicker, and bigger midsection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This trendy exercise isn\u2019t bad for a small percentage of people. A little further down in this article, we will tell you who <\/span><b><i>may<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> benefit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But it\u2019s a horrible idea for the vast majority of people reading this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you have <\/span><b><i>normal <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to high levels of body fat?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you have a \u201cblocky\u201d or short waist?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you tend to store body fat in your midsection or lower back?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are you in the initial stages of fat-loss?<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then you need to \u2026 <b style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"><i>STOP DOING THE WEIGHTED SIDE BEND!<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you subscribe to our <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YouTube Channel <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or friends with us on <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social Media<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, then you may be scratching your head right now, saying, \u201cWait, Vince does these, and now you are telling me they are bad?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We said that they are bad for MOST people. <\/span><b><i>J<\/i><\/b><b><i>ust because an exercise is popular doesn\u2019t mean YOU should be doing it.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monkey see monkey do, should not be a philosophy you use when it comes to ANYTHING health and fitness!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That is why we preach the importance of knowing your body type and why we developed a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vshred.com\/sp\/survey\/survey-aka1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FREE BODY TYPE QUIZ<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that anyone can take. It will help you determine the best way to train and eat, based on your personal genetics!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vshred.com\/sp\/survey\/survey-aka1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8150\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ezgif-2-f96ea057d666.gif?resize=700%2C394&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>THE WEIGHTED SIDE BEND<br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most people do side bends because they\u2019re trying to spot-reduce. They think that doing side bends will somehow <\/span><b><i>magically get rid of love handles.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We can see why you would believe this. We tell you how important lifting weight is for every other part of your body .. so why wouldn&#8217;t you think that bending with weight will somehow tone your love handles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But your obliques (the muscle that runs up and down your sides) are different.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a muscle you do not want to grow because it will not help change the shape of your body in a GOOD way!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some trainers say you should NEVER do this exercise, no matter what.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are not going to say NEVER, because <\/span><b><i>it can be a decent core exercise for SOME people if done with proper form.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even then, it is not the best oblique exercise. Many are far superior.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We put together <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">an entire video<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that explains why <\/span><b><i>the weighted side bend is an exercise you should probably delete from your gym vocabulary.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will want to watch this one, save it, and have it on hand, so you can share it the next time you see someone attempting to bend their way to a smaller waist!!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1170\" height=\"659\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oGUdpSzd3A8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your obliques are a muscle, just like your arms or legs. If you are training them with weight, they\u2019ll most likely grow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your goal is to have a smaller waist, you want to focus on strengthening and toning your obliques, not building them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>HOW TO TONE &amp; STRENGTHEN YOUR OBLIQUES<br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best love handle exercises are those that involve and target this muscle the way it\u2019s meant to be trained, which is NOT a side-to-side motion like you do with a side bend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of just BENDING .. you want to focus on rotation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your core muscles are designed to resist movement, not create it. When working side to side, you will feel it stretching .. but you aren\u2019t CONTRACTING the muscle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, you want to think about rotating or resisting rotation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would be much better to do things like \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wood chops, side planks or similar isometric holds, a farmer carry, med ball tosses, or anything else that trains your obliques in a rotational plane.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another reason you may want to chill out on side bends\u2026 <\/span><b><i>they aren\u2019t ideal for you to do long term.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You are holding the weight and doing a lateral spinal flexion, which over time, can place excessive pressure on your spine and can cause nerve impingement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>THE SIDE END EXCEPTION<br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have a longer torso and <\/span><b><i>extremely <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">low levels of body fat, you can probably get away with weighted bending movements. But we still think there are far superior exercises.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have tons of videos on our <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/vshred\/videos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube channel<\/a> for core strength<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, we also have complete <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ab programs available<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that teach you how to train your core!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BOTTOM LINE\u2026.<br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would be nice if we could spot reduce fat through diet or exercise, but we can\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your genetics mean that you hold on to fat in your stomach or lower back \u2026 it is what it is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to lose your love handles, you need to focus on OVERALL stomach toning, and most important, losing body-fat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doing side bends won\u2019t help. After reading this article, we hope you learned that even worse, they may hurt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t forget that <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your genetics<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will determine the extent to which your obliques will develop \u201cthickness\u201d through exercises like the weighted side bend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make sure you take a couple of minutes and check out our<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vshred.com\/sp\/survey\/survey-aka1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> FREE BODY TYPE QUIZ<\/a>!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vshred.com\/sp\/survey\/survey-aka1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8186\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Quiz-button-red.png?resize=1170%2C319&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1170\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Quiz-button-red.png?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Quiz-button-red.png?resize=300%2C82&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Quiz-button-red.png?resize=1024%2C279&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Quiz-button-red.png?resize=768%2C209&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Quiz-button-red.png?resize=1536%2C418&amp;ssl=1 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is a WIDER waist one of your physique goals? We are guessing the answer is .. no! But there is a really&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":8298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,49,22,27,26],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[160,338,245,247,124,252,248,243,534,795,251],"class_list":["post-8297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ab-training","category-ab-workouts","category-body-workouts","category-fat-loss","category-get-toned"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Image-from-iOS-16.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9NWy7-29P","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8297"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8301,"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8297\/revisions\/8301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8297"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vshred.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=8297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}