10 Oblique Exercises for Insanely Strong Abs (2024)

FAQs

Does oblique work your abs? ›

But if there's one part of your core that could probably use a little more attention, it's your obliques (aka your side abs). The obliques aid in breathing, rotating/bending your torso and creating intra-abdominal pressure while you hold your breath.

The best strength training workouts for your abs include compound lifts that require a strong core, like squats, deadlifts, snatches, cleans, and overhead presses. You can also add weight to traditional ab workouts like sit-ups, bear crawls, planks, v-ups, toes-to-bar, and scissor kicks.

While bodybuilders have strong obliques, focusing on strengthening exercises will not cause you to add muscle to the point point where you ruin your V-taper. In fact, building stronger obliques can be immensely beneficial to your training and overall health.

Complete workouts that target your lower abs, like leg lifts, hanging leg raises, reverse crunches, and an ab V hold. It also helps to follow a balanced core routine, which could include side crunches, bridges, lunges, and yoga poses. Doing cardio and eating a healthy diet can cut body fat, which may also help.

In core exercises, it's much easier to hit your upper abs, obliques, and back muscles than it is to burn out your lower abs, which happen to be the most elusive core muscles of your body. But one trainer's tapping a very specific crunch for lower abs that will specifically hit just the right spot... and hit it hard.

Strength workouts are 20-30 minutes a day, 4 days per week. You can always take more rest days as needed. The 4-30-10 method also includes a goal of 10,000 steps per day. This step goal includes all the steps you take during the day, whether it's just moving around your house or taking a dedicated walk.

You just need to know how to reach those goals you've set out for yourself. If you're looking to Get Rock Solid Abs, it's not impossible. In fact, it's more than possible. There are plenty of ways for you to sculpt that core.

The Russian twist is a versatile core exercise that targets the obliques and deeper core muscles (also known as the transverse abdominis), according to Lo Lundstrom and Ann Flesher, the Minny Hustlers fitness duo out of Minneapolis who are both certified personal trainers.

Is 100 abs a day enough? ›

Unfortunately, even if you do 100 crunches a day, you won't lose the fat from your belly. Not a chance. Sadly, it takes a lot of disciplined dietary choices to create the noticeable weight and fat loss necessary to uncover those washboard abs, not just a lot of sit ups.

Start standing with your feet hip-width apart, letting arms hang by your sides. Bend your upper body sideways toward the right, creasing at the waist. Pause and then return to standing while squeezing your left side obliques. Repeat on the left side, being sure to keep the weight close to your body as you bend.

You have too much body fat.

The single most important aspect when it comes to getting your abs to show is having a low body fat percentage. All humans have abdominal muscles that can be made more visible with training – but ultimately to see your abs you need to be at 10% body fat or less (18% or less for women.)

The order of upper abs and obliques is interchangeable – you can train oblique exercises before upper ab moves if you want to focus more on that area. The most important thing is that you do lower abs first and train the core last (or on a completely different day) a majority of the time.

Normally, the obliques are visible only when you start getting rid of layers of body fat. But targeting these muscles directly with added resistance makes them bigger. Because the obliques are positioned mainly along the sides of your torso, the effect is to actually thicken your waist.

When your obliques are well developed it gives you a straight up and down appearance in your midsection – you'll look boxy rather than curvy. If you build up your obliques but still have fat on your stomach, it will make your love handles look even bigger.