Side crunches are an important part of any abdominal workout; they isolate muscles that other types of crunches won’t reach. These will develop your lower oblique muscles, giving you those diagonal definition lines. Obliques are at the side of the torso and run diagonally from ‘rectus abdominis’ all the way to the lower back muscles. The external oblique muscles create a V-shape. These steps will help show you how to do side crunches.

1. To position yourself for the crunches, first lay on the floor as if you were doing regular crunches with your knees bent. I recommend doing this on some type of mat such as a yoga mat to give your body some cushioning.

2. Next, starting at your waist, drop your legs together completely to the left side.

3. Place both hands behind your head to give yourself neck support.

4. Breathe in deeply and hold the breath as you lift your body.

5. Lift your head off the ground using your abdominal muscles, not your neck muscles-using your neck muscles here could give you neck pain.

6. Guide your right elbow towards your left knee, continuing to use your abdominal muscles. Get yourself as close as possible to contact between your knee and elbow without straining your muscles.

7. Lower your head back down so that it is nearly touching the mat before going onto the next repetition. Repeat this crunch routine on your right side for muscle balance- each works out one side of your obliques.

To begin, I recommend doing 3 sets of 25 reps on each side. This should be part of a more comprehensive ab routine, as this targets a very specific group of abdominal muscles. I would avoid working out your abs two days in a row to give your muscles full time to recover, but an ab routine performed three times a week is a great start. As you become more advanced in how to do side crunches, you should experience definition in the obliques, and you can increase both the number of sets and the number of reps per set.

Related posts:

1. How to do Abdominal Crunches
2. How To Do Leg Raises
3. How To Do Knee Raises
4. How To Do Sit Ups
5. How to Get Six Pack Abs and Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease