Alternate Heel Touchers

Description

How to Do Alternate Heel Touchers

1. 1
   Setup

   Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor about hip-width apart, and heels positioned close to your glutes.

2. 2
   Setup

   Extend your arms straight down by your sides, palms facing inward, ensuring your fingertips are near your heels.

3. 3

   Engage your core, lift your head and shoulders slightly off the floor, keeping your lower back pressed firmly into the mat.

4. 4

   Reach your right hand towards your right heel, feeling the contraction in your right oblique, then return to the center with control.

5. 5

   Immediately reach your left hand towards your left heel, contracting your left oblique, then return to the center to complete one repetition.

6. 6

   Continue alternating sides in a controlled, rhythmic motion, maintaining constant core engagement throughout the set.

Tips

• Keep your lower back pressed into the mat throughout the exercise to protect your spine and maximize oblique engagement.
• Focus on initiating the movement from your obliques, not just swinging your arms, to properly target the side abdominal muscles.
• Breathe steadily: exhale as you reach for the heel and inhale as you return to the center, maintaining a controlled pace.
• Maintain a slight crunch position with your head and shoulders elevated throughout the set to keep constant tension on your core.

Common Mistakes

• ×Lifting the lower back off the floor reduces core engagement and can strain the lower back; fix this by actively pressing your lumbar spine into the mat.
• ×Swinging the arms without core engagement turns the exercise into an arm swing rather than an oblique movement; fix this by consciously contracting your obliques to initiate the side bend and reach.
• ×Moving too quickly through repetitions reduces muscle tension and control; slow down your movement to feel the oblique contraction on each side.