Side Bends, what are they good for?

ShadowNINku

ShadowNINku

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I'm having a convo at BB.com and these guys came up with the "stupidest exercises" and I disagreed with one of them; dumbell side bends.

I understand that they might think that it is a stupid exercise because people think it will spot reduce their "luv handles", but what about people that know what they're doing and do them to build strength in the midsection.

I suggested that it's good for core strength in the frontal plane and would probably be beneficial for wrestling or grappling in the same way that neck training is essential in those sports.

I wanted the SnP to help me with this one...........
 
It is a good accessory for the deadlift/squat as it builds up the obliques.
 
When done properly, it can help in spinal stabilization due to the obliques being a major player in that area. This helps with further growth on squat/deadlift/overhead/etc.

There are variations, but the silly guys that do one db in each hand are just wasting their time.
 
I think it's only stupid when they're done with dumbells in both hands simultaneously. One at a time can be good though.
 
Tosa said:
I think it's only stupid when they're done with dumbells in both hands simultaneously. One at a time can be good though.
Click to expand...

totally agree with this, the other weight just works as a counterbalance in the db side bend

the overhead Saxon variety might not have a counterbalance effect though if using a weight on each hand
 
I've never found them particularly useful. Tiny range of motion, not much muscle involved, and you're going to need some BIG dumbbells to make them challenging. There are a ton of legit unilateral exercises you can do, if you think you need to.
 
There is the version where you're in the cable crossover machine and you push down with your hand instead of holding the weight on the opposite side. It's a little more awkward, but you can use significantly more weight.

Same with Saxon Side bends.
 
ShadowNINku said:
I'm having a convo at BB.com and these guys came up with the "stupidest exercises" and I disagreed with one of them; dumbell side bends.

I suggested that it's good for core strength in the frontal plane and would probably be beneficial for wrestling or grappling in the same way that neck training is essential in those sports.
Click to expand...



I've only done the Saxon side bend version (dumbell held over head with two hands) which is a horrible thing to do to oneself and I'd tend to agree with that. I like exercises like the Saxon side bend and ab wheel rollouts for grappling. I only do nogi grappling but core strength in awkward positions tends to be a great thing to have.

The Saxon version is also in that great big ab work catalog post that is floating around somewhere in this forum.
 
From my understanding, side bends work mostly your quadratus lumborum, a muscle that almost NO ONE needs shorter or stronger. I believe it to have limited effect on the obliques, and the combination of that and the tendency for QL's to cause and exacerbate lower back problems and go undiagnosed/treated for many years leads me to agree that side bends are, in fact, a nearly worthless exercise.
 
XTrainer said:
I've never found them particularly useful. Tiny range of motion, not much muscle involved, and you're going to need some BIG dumbbells to make them challenging. There are a ton of legit unilateral exercises you can do, if you think you need to.
Click to expand...

This is probably one of the more important things to consider.

They basically work your obliques only and you need massive weight to get a decent workout out of them. Nothing really to gain you can't get from a compound movement like overhead squat or deadlift.. or just about any squat variant or deadlift variant for that matter.
 
It's good for guard work, and general ground game uses.
 
I automatically thought you were talking about SAXON side bends... regular sidebends are weak sauce.
 
Side bends, along with situps, are excellent when you want to work your core but you don't want to lose that butt.
 
Ascendant said:
From my understanding, side bends work mostly your quadratus lumborum, a muscle that almost NO ONE needs shorter or stronger. I believe it to have limited effect on the obliques, and the combination of that and the tendency for QL's to cause and exacerbate lower back problems and go undiagnosed/treated for many years leads me to agree that side bends are, in fact, a nearly worthless exercise.
Click to expand...

Wassup man, what would you recommend for the obliques?
 
Urban said:
I automatically thought you were talking about SAXON side bends... regular sidebends are weak sauce.
Click to expand...

Pardon the noob question, I'm new to the SnP forum. What in the world is a SAXON side bend?
 
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