4 Exercises for your waist

When you look at the human body and how it is constructed you can’t help but be amazed how incredibly intricate it has been engineered.

For a believer, this is definite evidence of a Creator because nothing like the human body can have been put together so precisely by chance.

Psalms 139:14 says, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”

Nothing screams out this truth like the engineering of the core of the human body, the muscles that make up the waistline called the abdominal and oblique muscles.

Abdominal and Oblique Muscles

When these muscles are functioning the way they should they are capable of incredible movement. Just ask an engineer to construct something that can bend forward, backward, side to side as well as twist in nearly every direction. Plus it needs to support the organs inside and act as a bridge between the upper body and lower body.

Any engineer would say it’s impossible to do all of it at the same time but that is actually the function of the stomach muscles.

The problem with most machines is the more you use them the more they may break down. Muscles are the exact opposite, the more you use them the more they improve and function better.

Your midsection is no exception. One of the most evident signs that a person is in top shape is when you can see those six-pack abs. At that point you know that person has taken a lot of effort to improve their body.

The abdominal muscles are those at the middle of your stomach that give that six pack look everyone likes to see, but the oblique muscles are just as important. They are the muscles on the side of your waist that allow you to twist the waist. Both need to be worked out to have a fully developed waistline.

Since your midsection can move in so many ways there are an immense variety of exercises. Below are four of my favorite ab and oblique exercises. The important thing to remember when doing these exercises is to watch your form. Sloppy exercises can be dangerous. Doing some exercises incorrectly can lead to injury and that is not what anyone wants.

Crunches

When I was young the main exercise that one did for their stomach was sit-ups. After years of hearing that was what you were to do, all of a sudden modern science taught us that everybody was wrong.

It was discovered that sit-ups actually work the hip flexor muscles more than the abdominal muscles and the best way to exercise the abdominal muscle was crunches.

The way I like to do my crunches is to lay on my bench, though it can be done on an exercise mat just as easily. Then I lift my legs until they are 90 degrees from the bench, my knees bent. My hands behind my head, elbows out, lying flat on the bench at the start of the movement.

To start the movement, using your abdominal muscles lift your head up and at the same time move your knees up. At the top of the movement, swing your elbows forward and try to touch your elbows to your knees. After a while you will be able to move your elbows beyond your knees but at first just try to touch your knees.

After reaching the top of the movement, return to the beginning to complete one repetition.

This isn’t a race, take your time doing this exercise or any exercise for that matter. Slow controlled movements is what you will want to strive to do. It is a natural temptation to do your exercise quickly but for the best benefit do your exercise slowly.

A variation of this exercise is to twist at your waist on your way up and try to touch your opposite knee with your elbow. Doing this will work your oblique muscles as well as your abdominal muscles.

Since it is a simple exercise try to do 25 repetitions per set.

Resistance band crunches

This is a relatively new exercise for me, but it is similar to one I use to do when I went to the gym.

The first thing to do with this exercise is attach the resistance bands to the top of a door with the attachment that comes with the set. Make sure the door is securely shut because you don’t want to have bands act like a giant rubber band and hit you if the door opens.

Next, kneel on the floor facing away from the door. I kneel on a mat because I want to focus on the exercise rather than any discomfort from my knees.

At this starting position, holding the bands at each side of your head bend forward at the waist. Try to hold everything else as rigid as possible. Only move at with the waist muscles. Bend forward trying to touch your elbows to your knees. Hold of a moment and then return.

You may want to start with a light weight band at first to get use to the motion, then increase to the point that it takes some effort to do the exercise while still maintaining a strict rigid form in your motion.

You don’t want to go too heavy. If you have to arch your back to get momentum to do the exercise you are using too much resistance and will lessen the effect on your abdominal muscles and could put you at risk for injury.

With a slight variation you can bring your oblique muscle into the workout. Like the crunches above try twisting at your waist and try to touch your elbow to your opposite knee as you lower.

Do 10 to 15 repetitions per set.

Side bends

Side bends are something that you don’t see that often anymore, but they are a favorite of mine. They help develop your oblique muscles directly.

Holding one dumbbell in one hand, stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Then bend to the side that is not holding the dumbbell as far as you can. Pause and then lower until you are bending the opposite direction as far you can. Then return to your starting point.

After a set of ten, switch the dumbbell to the other hand and repeat for another ten repetitions.

This exercise will both flex and stretch your oblique muscles.

Leg Raises/Hip thrusts.

This exercise is my number one go to exercise. I absolutely love this one.

Actually this is a combination of two exercises into one, but for me it works the best and I do it every time I work out my stomach.

I start by lying on my weight bench and I reach over my head and grasp the bench with both hands.

I then start with a basic leg lift, trying to keep my legs as straight as possible until my legs reach a 90 degree angle with the bench. At that point grip the bench to support myself while I lift my butt off the bench and thrust my hips as far as I can upwards.

At the top of the movement the only part of my body that is on the bench is my hands, head and upper back.

Slowly, I lower my back and then my legs, trying to keep them somewhat straight but stopping just before they touch the bench.

I do ten of these per set.

Regular crunches primarily work the upper portion of your abdominal muscles whereas this exercise works the lower portion of these muscles. Doing both exercises as a regular part of your routine covers the entire muscle group.

So these are my favorite 4 exercises for my waistline. By changing my eating lifestyle and doing these exercises I have gone from a 50 inch waist to a 36 inch waist.

You can check out the videos and see how I do each exercise. If you find this helpful leave me a message in the comments below.

Have a wonderful and blessed day.