How to pump up the lateral abdominal muscles at home for a girl

Author of the article

Andrey Belozertsev

Drawing up programs for effective muscle mass gain.

A beautiful figure is the dream of every girl.

But fat folds on the stomach and sides often spoil the picture and make you lose self-confidence.

However, with the right approach to training, you can achieve the desired relief in a short time.

We offer you to learn how to pump up your lateral abs at home, find out which exercises will be most effective, and also get recommendations on proper nutrition.

What is a side press

The so-called lateral press is formed by the oblique abdominal muscles, which are divided into two types - internal and external, each of them has its own functions.

The internal ones are aimed at protecting the abdominal organs, and the external ones visually form the sides.

In general, the muscles help to flex and extend, rotate the body, and support the back.

Their development and strengthening is necessary not only for a beautiful, fit body, but also for health.

Functions of oblique muscles in the body

The oblique muscles are wasted during sports activities. It is vital to train her. The abdominal muscles are responsible for numerous movements and serious processes in the body of any person:

Help with proper breathing. During exhalation, the ribs help lower.
Maintaining organs in the correct position in the abdominal area.
Effective support during labor, coughing and bowel movements.
They are responsible for turning the body in different directions and correct, even posture.
Pressure support inside the abdominal area.

Note. The oblique abdominal muscles help prevent spinal injuries from constant heavy lifting. Any hernias don't matter.

Expert recommendations for training

Please note: the lateral abdominal muscles have a direct impact on how your body contours will look, so if you train them incorrectly, you can achieve a wide, unattractive waist and an H-shaped silhouette, which does not look feminine at all.

That's why it's important to consider the following:

You should start exercising approximately 2 hours after your meal. Also, before and during training, you do not need to drink a lot of water; a couple of sips are enough to quench your thirst. After completing the complex, it is recommended to eat no earlier than an hour later.
A mandatory start to each session is a warm-up; it will prepare the muscles for the load and help avoid sprains and injuries. This can be jumps, a series of turns and tilts.
The content of each workout should be varied, so you can add strength and cardio exercises to your complex.
Classes at home should be conducted at least 3 times a week. Only in this case, after 3-3.5 weeks will it be possible to notice the first improvements.
The load should increase gradually. In the first days there is no need to chase a large number of repetitions. It is much more important to try to bring “muscle joy” and enjoy the fact that your body is becoming slimmer.

While doing the exercises, it is very important to pull in and tighten your stomach; this will help fight fat folds even more effectively, as well as prevent stress on the back, which is often observed in beginners.

I want to draw the sides!

I'll start with the main thing. If you perform basic exercises correctly, your abs should develop quickly. How much depends on individual characteristics. By means of slight adjustments, you only need to “paint on” each muscle to a visible relief.

Let me make a reservation right away: there is no “upper abs,” “lower abs,” or “middle abs.” This is a single, inseparable muscle corset in the area of our abdomen and waist. There is no need to divide it into parts.

Someone says: “It’s made in the kitchen!” - and it is true. Someone is indignant: “I'm tired of hearing for the thousandth time that abs are made in the kitchen! This is wrong!" - and he’s not wrong either. If you work out as hard as you can, but don’t see results, it means you forgot about the B/F/U ratio. And remember that power loads are of no use here. In this case, the aerobic method with less effort will lead to results without losses and injuries.

Three main postulates:

any muscle fiber works only when it contracts;
nutrition is required to thicken these fibers;
skeletal muscles are not adapted to work under constant load.

It is clear that in order to get rid of excess food, you need to reduce carbohydrate foods, and to increase meat, you need to increase protein foods. And what is especially important: if the muscles are overworked, they become exhausted.

How to pump up your side abs at home

From a lying position

Exercises for working the oblique muscles are varied.

Get to know the most effective of them, allowing you to achieve impressive results in a short time.

The best way to pump up your lateral abs is with simple-to-perform exercises that only require a gymnastic mat. We offer three of the most effective.

Side plank

Helps to work out the lateral press; due to the high load, it allows you to quickly achieve a noticeable effect.

The order of execution is as follows:

Lie on the floor, focusing on the outer side of the foot and the palm placed directly under the shoulder.
The waist and hips form one straight line that goes into the legs.

It is necessary to hold this position for as long as possible, at first – 20-30 seconds, gradually increasing the time to 1.5-2 minutes on each side. Performed in 3 approaches.

Bike

Another useful exercise for the lateral abdominal muscles, which can be performed at home.

It's done like this:

Lie on your back, pressing your lower back firmly to the floor. Hands bent at the elbows are placed behind the head.
Raise your legs.
Alternately bend your legs while simultaneously moving your body. The right elbow tends to the left leg and vice versa.

Performed in 3 approaches, with a 10-second break between them. In each approach you need to make 10-15 contacts of the elbow and knee.

Swing your legs

It is necessary to take the starting position - lie on your right side, slightly bending your right leg at the knee.

Support is on this leg and on the arm bent at the elbow, located under the head.

Place your left hand at the level of your stomach - it will also become an additional support point.

The exercise is done like this:

Raise your left leg straight as high as your hip joint allows.
The leg must be straight, abduction to the sides is unacceptable.

Perform 3 sets of 15-20 times with each leg. These lifts also help train your butt muscles.

With dumbbells

Side press training with weights will help you quickly achieve beautiful relief, but girls are not recommended to use heavy weights (1-1.5 kg dumbbells are quite enough).

Woodcutter

It's done like this:

Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in your arms.
Turn your body to the left, lift the dumbbell over your left shoulder with outstretched arms.
After this, turn your body to the right, move the dumbbell to your right knee, moving diagonally, and take a squat position.

For a beginner, it is enough to perform 8-10 times in each direction, gradually increasing the number of repetitions.

Tilts

This is the simplest exercise that allows you to pump up your lateral abdominal muscles at home.

It's done like this:

Stand with your back straight, feet shoulder-width apart, and dumbbells in your arms.
Bend from side to side, trying to operate with maximum amplitude.
At the maximum point below, fix the body for 2 counts, then straighten up and repeat in the other direction.

Girls just need to do 3 sets of 10-15 bends in each direction.

The best standing exercise is leg swings

To work the lateral abdominal muscles, it is most suitable to perform swings from a standing position.

It's done like this:

Stand against a support, back straight, legs together.
Perform a side swing with your left leg with the greatest amplitude, holding the support with your right hand.

Do 3 sets of 10-15 swings in each direction.

How to pump up side press on the horizontal bar

Get acquainted with another very effective exercise that allows you to pump up your lateral muscles - twisting on the horizontal bar.

It's done like this:

Hang on the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart.
Raise your legs bent at the knees to chest level.
Move your legs right and left.

Perform 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions.

Warm-up

To prepare your cardiovascular system and get ready for training, it is recommended to do a warm-up.

It is advisable to jog for 10 minutes on the track, or work on a ski machine, hit a punching bag or do squats. Sudden surges in blood pressure can ruin your entire mood or even disrupt your workout.

Many people have watched action movies or videos of side press exercises in which martial artists or athletes do a staggering number of repetitions.

However, this is necessary for narrow areas of activity. For those who want to achieve beautiful and sculpted abs, 10-20 repetitions are enough. There is no need to exhaust yourself until you lose your pulse.

In order for muscle growth to occur at maximum speed, the amplitude must be maximum. This means that all movements must be performed completely, and stop only at the extreme points. This will ensure full development of all groups and stretch the tissues, giving them the potential for growth.

After classes, it is advisable not to eat for an hour. This is not standard training, in which closing the carbohydrate window plays an important role.

If a whole workout was dedicated to training the abs, then, firstly, the stomach and intestines are in an exhausted state, and secondly, the restoration of microdamage to the abs is not so dependent on the level of sugar in the blood.

You can afford to drink a cocktail that will not burden your digestive system.

The side press for girls should be elastic, but not pumped up. This is not a muscle that will look good on the body. The smoothness of the lines is important in it.

Unlike men's training, you should not use large weights for weighting, otherwise you can greatly harm the aesthetics.

Ready-made effective complexes

Get acquainted with a set of exercises for the lateral abdominal muscles that will help you achieve a beautiful waist.

For newbies

For those who have just started working on an ideal body, you can perform the following exercises:

bends;
swing with straight legs from a lying position;
twisting on the horizontal bar.

Average level

The following exercises will help improve your results:

side bar;
slopes with dumbbells;
bike;
on the horizontal bar, you can additionally perform lateral leg raises: from a hanging position, raise your legs bent at the knees, but not straight, but to the left, fix for 2-3 seconds, lower, repeat to the right.

Advanced level

A powerful complex for those who have been training for more than 2 months:

slopes with dumbbells;
bends with turns of the body (legs wider than shoulders, arms extended to the sides): the body moves in the direction forward - down, after which it turns to the right, then the movement is repeated to the left;
woodcutter;
swing your legs.

Ideally, each exercise is performed in 3 sets of 15-20 repetitions, but you can start with 10 repetitions.

Common Injuries

It is very important to perform all movements with correct technique and also to work at a slow pace. Before starting the class, you should warm up well. Warm up not only your oblique muscles, but other parts of your body as well. This way you can avoid troubles and various injuries.

So, what injuries can result from improper exercise technique? Let's look at the most common problems, their causes and symptoms:

The most common injury is a sprain. Athletes suffer similar damage during intense training. The structure of muscle tissue may be disrupted. If you feel sharp pain in the abdominal area and it is unpleasant to bend your body, consult a doctor. In some cases, athletes suffer from bruising. Your body temperature may rise. The duration of the recovery process depends entirely on the severity of the injury.
Regular aching pain can occur if you exercise too often and too much. The athlete must rest well between training sessions to avoid the effects of overtraining. You don't need to pump up your abs every day .
Pain in the abdominal area does not always occur due to errors in the technique. You could simply have been blown away. Be sure to consult a doctor if the problem cannot be solved on your own by reducing the frequency, intensity of training and reducing the load. An experienced specialist will be able to make the correct diagnosis and prescribe treatment.

Contraindications

It is strictly prohibited to pump the lateral abdominal muscles in the following cases:

hernia (vertebral, umbilical, inguinal);
pyelonephritis;
pneumonia;
asthma;
nephrosis;
prolapse of the internal pelvic organs.

In case of pregnancy, intensive abdominal training is also prohibited.

However, adapted exercises that need to be selected together with your doctor will help keep your muscles toned.

Nuances of training for women

Most often, guys and girls who work out in the gym do the same abdominal exercises. The structure of this muscle zone is identical in representatives of different sexes. Thus, women can benefit from any available abdominal exercise.

However, it should be noted that there are still several features of the training process for the fair sex:

You need to perform only those movements that do not cause any discomfort, pain or other unpleasant sensations (this is also true for men).
Girls should exercise without the help of heavy sports equipment. Strength work can lead to an enlarged waist, which is unlikely to be the effect you were looking for.
Do not strive to complete complex tasks, focus on simple exercises that will help you work the target muscle group comprehensively. Simple does not mean ineffective.
Women do not necessarily need to specifically focus on movements that are designed to pump up the lateral abdominal muscles - exercises on the rectus abdominis muscle will be quite enough.

Training mistakes

In order for the training to take place with maximum productivity, and for the stomach and sides to quickly take on the desired shape, you need to know the main mistakes and avoid them.

Unacceptable:

No warm-up.
Using the same type of exercises.
Incorrect breathing. When muscles are stressed, they need oxygen, so when you tense, you inhale, and when you relax, you exhale.

Therefore, each workout should begin with warm-up exercises, and the main part should include a variety of movements.

Bike

We lie down on the surface and raise our legs, fully straightened. We place our hands behind our heads, bending them at the elbow joint.
Next, we tear off the upper part of the body so that the shoulder blades remain on the floor.
As you exhale, bend your right leg, trying to touch its knee with your left elbow.
We straighten up and repeat the exercise, but with other arms and legs.

Nutrition tips

Diet recommendations from experts:

You need to eat in small portions 4-5 times a day.
Completely exclude flour products, sweets, carbonated drinks and smoked foods from the diet. Ketchup and mayonnaise are also prohibited.
The basis of a healthy diet should be eggs, lean meat and fish, cottage cheese, buckwheat, cereals, and rice.
It is unacceptable to go on strict diets during active training, since the body must receive all the necessary elements.
Drink at least 2 liters of water, but do not overuse the liquid before and during training.

These tips will help you achieve an attractive and slim body faster.

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