Obliques exercise
Alternating Heel TapsHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Obliques
- Also works
- Abs
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Alternating Heel Taps?
- Lie on your back with knees bent, feet flat and a little wider than your hips.
- Lift your head and shoulders off the floor with your arms by your sides.
- Bend sideways to touch your right hand to your right heel.
- Come back to the middle, then touch your left heel; keep alternating.
Cues
- Shoulders stay up the whole set.
- Bend sideways, ribs towards hip.
- Keep your knees still.
Common mistakes
- Dropping your head between taps: keep your shoulders lifted.
- Twisting instead of side-bending: slide your hand straight down to the heel.
- Rushing: pause briefly at each heel.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
Lying oblique heel taps (also called alternate heel touches): knees bent, feet flat, head and shoulder blades held off the mat, reaching sideways to each heel. This is the oblique version the primary muscle implies; the leg-lowering "supine heel taps" in physiotherapy libraries is a different exercise and is not shown.
Starting position
Lying on the back on a mat, knees bent and feet flat about shoulder-width apart (35–40 cm), heels about 35–40 cm from the tailbone. Arms straight by the sides, palms facing in, hands hovering just off the mat. Curl the head and shoulder blades off the floor and hold them there; lower back and pelvis stay on the mat.
The movement
Bend sideways at the waist to slide the right hand down towards the right heel until the fingertips touch it (ribs move towards the right hip), pause, return to centre, then repeat to the left. It is a small side crunch: the shoulders stay lifted at the same height the whole time, the trunk does not twist or curl further up, and the legs and pelvis stay still. The hand travels in a short arc close to the floor beside the body.
Breathing
Breathe out as you reach to a heel, in as you come back to centre.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Head stays in line with the trunk, chin a fist's width from the chest.
- Knees and feet do not move.
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Alternating Heel Taps is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
