Exercise guide · Beginner · Compound
Alternate Heel Touchers: How to Do It & Muscles Worked
Alternate heel touchers is a bodyweight exercise targeting the abdominal muscles, particularly the obliques. It involves lying on your back, lifting your shoulders, and reaching side to side to touch your heels, engaging your core throughout.
How to do the alternate heel touchers
- Step 1: Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
- Step 2: Extend your arms straight out to the sides, parallel to the ground.
- Step 3: Engaging your abs, lift your shoulders off the ground and reach your right hand towards your right heel.
- Step 4: Return to the starting position and repeat on the left side, reaching your left hand towards your left heel.
- Step 5: Continue alternating sides for the desired number of repetitions.
Sets, reps and programming
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | 1–3 reps in reserve |
| Muscle growth | 3–4 | 6–12 | 2–3 min | 1–2 reps in reserve |
| Muscular endurance | 2–3 | 12–20 | 1–2 min | 1–3 reps in reserve |
Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.
Alternate Heel Touchers alternatives
More exercises that train the abs as their main target:
-
3/4 Sit-Up
Abs · Body Weight · Beginner compound -
45° Side Bend
Abs · Body Weight · Beginner compound -
Air Bike
Abs · Body Weight · Beginner compound -
Assisted Hanging Knee Raise
Abs · Assisted · Beginner compound -
Assisted Motion Russian Twist
Abs · Medicine Ball · Beginner compound -
Assisted Prone Rectus Femoris Stretch
Abs · Assisted · Beginner stretch -
Assisted Sit-Up
Abs · Assisted · Beginner compound -
Assisted Sit-Up with Wide
Abs · Assisted · Beginner compound
More abs exercises
-
Dead Bug
Abs · Body Weight · Beginner compound -
Hanging Leg Raise
Abs · Body Weight · Advanced compound -
Arm Slingers Hanging Bent Knee Legs
Abs · Body Weight · Intermediate compound -
Arm Slingers Hanging Straight Legs
Abs · Body Weight · Advanced compound -
Arms Overhead Full Sit-Up (Male)
Abs · Body Weight · Intermediate compound -
Assisted Hanging Knee Raise with Throw Down
Abs · Assisted · Advanced compound
Sources
- American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
- Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
- Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.
Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset.
This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.