Be sure to bookmark this guide as your go-to resource for building strong, toned obliques and a powerful core. B. Twist your upper body to the left while keeping the back of your waist on the floor. B. Engage the core and squeeze the glutes to raise up to the kneeling position, keeping weight at the chest. This will prepare your muscles for the actual weight and reduce the risk of injury, overuse, or strain. Lower back pain can make other exercises and daily life more difficult. The pain can sometimes impact confidence, mental well-being, and relationships.
Training Tips
Franco is also a corporate wellness consultant who conducts wellness counseling and seminars for organizations of every size. She created the sports nutrition rotation for the New York Distance Dietetic Internship program. The low-to-high dumbbell woodchop, also known as the dumbbell down-up twist, can help you lose weight and burn calories.
You can easily incorporate these exercises into your cable workout routine. This exercise engages the entire core, with a significant emphasis on the obliques. When you do this exercise, your entire core is forced to engage to resist the rotation of your spine. This exercise also improves stability in the lower back and hips. This exercise involves a combination of a hip hinge and a rotation, making it excellent for improving flexibility, stability, and strength. In addition to working out like an athlete and losing weight, you can also work on your shoulders and upper body by bracing against the ground.
The internal obliques are deeper muscles that sit beneath and are often overshadowed by the external obliques, but they play just as big of a role. Unlike the external muscles, these run parallel and also assist with rotation. To target your obliques directly, choose 2–3 of these exercises and add them to your workout twice a week. This standing crunch variation effectively targets the obliques, according to Harding, and is great when you want to tap into these muscles without lying down on the floor.
Plank Row
- It is a core-strengthening exercise that primarily targets the oblique muscles.
- These variations will help you develop strength, stability, and endurance.
- These 10 oblique exercises don’t just work obliques, but work out your core and other supporting muscles.
- Always keep your back flat and ensure it does not sink in while you hold the position.
- Another often overlooked movement pattern, improving top-down rotation will translate well into other exercises and movements.
- Building core strength with easy oblique workouts not only gives you a more toned appearance, but it also creates the coveted V-taper look.
Remember to breathe throughout the exercise and keep your spine in a straight line. It’s more important to have good form than to rush through the reps. If your goal is a lean, sculpted midsection, you must challenge your core from multiple angles — flexion, rotation, anti-rotation, and stabilization. Erin is a writer and editor at Sweat with years of experience in women’s publishing, the fitness industry, media and tech. She’s passionate about the power of movement, and you can often find her on a yoga mat, a hike, a dance floor, in the ocean or the gym.
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By training your obliques with purpose, you will not only strengthen your midsection but also improve the way your entire body performs best app for tracking nutrition during everyday tasks and workouts. Oblique exercises are an essential part of any balanced training plan. They support rotation, stability, and proper posture, all while helping you build a stronger, more defined core.
Modified plank variations
Essentially what you’re trying to do is stabilize this upper body position and prevent the rotation that wants to happen. You can also use a resistance band here but make sure that it’s securely attached to a wall. You can do this either in the half-kneeling position or more athletically, on your feet. Either way, it’s a great way to challenge your obliques in a more functional way as you progress. This is because you’ll be using the most effective exercises AND, more importantly, you’ll be performing them correctly. Best of all, you don’t need a dumbbell or multiple weight plates for these exercises.
Plank Rotation
They’re a perfect addition to your at-home ab routine, especially if you’re a beginner looking for a low-impact workout. Now, bring your right knee towards your torso, keeping your toes off the ground. Return your right leg to the starting position and immediately bring your left knee towards your torso.
Top 10 OBLIQUES Exercises
As you’d expect, the external obliques are the visible part of the muscle. Before we jump into the oblique workout, all of this starts with understanding a bit about the anatomy of the obliques. The obliques are truly some of the most fascinating muscles of the entire core. Your arms are going to feel like they’re going to explode after this, but in the best way possible. If you are concerned about your form, consider booking a session with a personal trainer to ensure your movements are correct and controlled.
Banded Bird Dog
Plus, why oblique work is essential to building a strong, functional core. Click here to return to our full list of strength training exercises. Click here to return to our list of strength training programs and workouts.
External Obliques
Below, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best oblique exercises you can do to target these critical core muscles. Sit on a mat with your feet on the ground and legs slightly bent in front of you. Activate your core as you lean back so your torso and thighs form a V shape and lift your feet slightly off the ground (cross your ankles to make it more challenging). Hold your arms straight out in front of you, then twist your torso to one side in a controlled motion, tapping the floor before rotating to the other side and repeating. Hold a dumbbell or medicine ball with bent elbows in front of your chest as you twist to make the move more challenging. Oblique muscles are muscles that run along the sides of your core.
Training the Oblique Muscles Are Key to a Stronger Core and Abs
Slowly inhale and exhale and let your knees drop to the right, only as low as you are able to while keeping your arms pressed into the mat, Paley instructs. Turn your head to look in the opposite direction of your knees, feeling the spinal rotation. Next, inhale to return your knees to the center, then repeat on the other side. Come into a forearm plank with elbows stacked under shoulders, palms flat on the ground, and legs extended straight behind you (feet should be slightly wider than hip-width apart). Squeezing your glutes and quads, reach one arm out in front of you.
