The Iliocostalis exercise targets the lower back and helps improve spinal stability.

Follow these steps to perform the exercise:

  1. Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart.
  2. Engage your core and slowly lean to one side, reaching your arm down towards your knee.
  3. Return to the starting position and repeat on the other side.
  4. Perform for the desired number of repetitions.

How to perform the Iliocostalis

  1. Set up. Set up in a stable, balanced starting position appropriate for the Iliocostalis using your body weight.
  2. Brace and execute. Brace your core, control the descent, and move through a full pain-free range of motion while emphasizing your latissimus dorsi.
  3. Reset. Reverse the movement under control and reset between repetitions, keeping your form crisp on every rep.

Coaching cues

  • Move with intent — every rep should feel deliberate, not rushed.
  • Drive force through your latissimus dorsi rather than momentum.
  • Keep your breathing steady: exhale on the hard part, inhale on the reset.

Common mistakes

  • Using too much weight and losing positional control.
  • Cutting the range of motion short and missing the target muscle.
  • Letting your spine round or hyperextend instead of staying neutral.

Detailed cues, common mistakes, and demonstration video are available in the Fitly app.

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