Oblique Workouts

THE ULTIMATE OBLIQUES WORKOUT GUIDE

Most people focus on their abs when they’re trying to get a six-pack, but the obliques are just as important for your entire core!

The oblique muscles are located on the sides of your torso, and they play a major role in both movement and stability. That’s why it’s so important to include oblique workouts in your routine.

In this article, we’ll discuss the anatomy of the oblique core muscles, why they’re important, and what the best oblique workouts are. We’ll also provide a list of our favorite oblique exercises, both with and without equipment.

So, if you’re looking to define your waistline and get rid of love handles, read on for some great oblique workouts!

1) ANATOMY OF THE OBLIQUES

Before we get into this effective obliques workout, let’s take a quick minute to understand how the obliques function.

The stronger the mind-to-muscle connection is, the more in sync your movements will be as you activate the obliques and the entire core.

Speaking of the oblique muscle, most people make the mistake of thinking there are only the best lower oblique workouts and upper oblique workouts, but this isn’t the case. The oblique muscle fibers are external oblique and internal oblique – not upper and lower like the fibers in the central rectus abdominis muscle, also known as the “six-pack” muscle.

EXTERNAL OBLIQUES

The external obliques are the muscle group you can see running along your rib cage, and they’re quite the show-offs. They are the core muscles that most people focus on when training to get ripped obliques.

The external obliques are situated at a downward angle, and they help rotation. For example, your external obliques go into overdrive to maintain the leg positions when you do Windshield Wipers.

INTERNAL OBLIQUES

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.

They can be activated through moves like Russian Twists, which is an amazing exercise for the obliques and overall core.

OBLIQUE MUSCLE FUNCTIONS

The internal and external obliques work in tandem during good oblique workouts to create rotation while also controlling it. In some instances, the obliques may even prevent rotation from happening at all.

Not only do your obliques assist with side bending, but they also help with the flexion of the trunk. The intensity of the contraction depends on the movement being used.

For example, if you are performing a Spiderman Push-up, you are activating the obliques as you bring your knee to meet your elbow.

As for trunk flexion, single-sided oblique exercises such as a single-leg plank are the way to go. Your obliques, along with the rest of your core, actively prevent trunk flexion–the natural inclination of your body when positioned in this way.

There are plenty of easy at home oblique workouts that you can do with or without weights.

2) WHY ARE OBLIQUE WORKOUTS IMPORTANT?

Oblique training is an important part of any fitness routine. Not only do they help sculpt the waistline, but they also promote healthy mobility and form a strong base for other exercises.

Here are some of the most important reasons you want to include great oblique workouts in your fitness program.

SUPPORT ROTATION AND FLEXION

Your obliques control rotation driven from the top down or from the bottom up. They can also flex you to one side or the other, but from the top down or the bottom up.

What’s more, they can prevent lateral flexion altogether or prevent rotation altogether.

Rotation and flexion go beyond the gym. Think about how you move during your day-to-day routine. Twisting and turning in everyday tasks like picking up kids or doing yardwork is essential so getting better at it will only benefit you.

PROVIDE STABILITY

The obliques provide stability to your core, which helps with proper posture. This is especially important when performing other effective exercises like squats and deadlifts.

When your obliques are strong, you’re less likely to experience injuries from these movements.

Again, look outside of the weight room to see the real benefit of the best ab and oblique workouts. Your entire upper body relies on proper posture to support itself and the obliques are like two of the pillars holding you up on either side.

ENHANCE MOBILITY

Mobility refers to your physical ability to move your body. More specifically, it’s made up of range of motion, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility. While muscle and strength are great fitness goals to have, mobility is crucial for making all other fitness goals possible, including improved athletic performance.

Given their location on your body, your obliques play a key role in improving your overall mobility. Oblique exercises help build strength and flexibility in the area, which gives you more range of motion.

SCULPT THE WAISTLINE

Now, let’s talk aesthetics. Your oblique muscles are a key part of achieving that coveted V-cut or six-pack. Without them, your core won’t look as complete.

By properly activating the obliques with external and internal oblique workouts, you’ll be able to chisel a strong and defined waistline in no time.

TOP-DOWN ROTATION

Another often overlooked movement pattern, improving top-down rotation will translate well into other exercises and movements.

RUSSIAN TWISTS

BOTTOM-UP LATERAL FLEXION

This time we’re focusing on that lateral flexion and again from the bottom up and the top down. The Side Plank Twists are one exercise that need to be a part of any good side oblique workouts.

SIDE PLANK BRIDGE TWISTS

TOP-DOWN LATERAL FLEXION

Now we move to the next exercise, which is going to target top-down lateral flexion, the opposite of the last exercise.

SIDE CYCLE CRUNCH

ANTI-LATERAL FLEXION

And this is where we start to do the part that most people forget to do. It’s the anti-stuff or the anti-lateral control and the anti-rotational control.

SIDE PLANK WALK THROUGHS

ANTI-ROTATION

Which brings us to the final exercise here in these workouts for obliques for definition, the anti-rotational control movement pattern.

WALL LOCKS

4) WHAT ARE THE BEST OBLIQUE EXERCISES?

As I mentioned above, you want to choose oblique exercises that do more than make your side burn a little bit.

The greatest workouts for obliques at the gym focus on the function of the muscle – not what might work but what actually works.

Here are some of my favorite free weight oblique workouts that tap into the function we discussed above:

BROOMSTICK TWIST

PHYSIOBALL PLATE TWIST

ANTI-ROTATION PRESSOUT

BANDED CAULDRON

BANDED ELBOW THRUST

For more of the best oblique exercises check out this article on 10 Best Obliques Exercises.

5) WHAT ARE THE BEST OBLIQUE EXERCISES WITHOUT EQUIPMENT?

What if you don’t have access to a gym or any special fitness equipment at home to use? Can you still sculpt your obliques with just bodyweight exercises?

Even if you don’t have any resistance bands, free weights, or cable machines at your disposal, there are still plenty of core exercises you can do for training obliques.

Let’s take a look at the best oblique workouts without equipment:

SIDE CRUNCH

SIDE BRIDGE

ELBOW TO KNEE

CORKSCREW TWIST

6) HOW DO I GET RID OF LOVE HANDLES?

You’re certainly not alone if you have love handles; in fact, this is where most men store fat.

Unfortunately, if you’re overweight, common core exercises like oblique crunches aren’t going to help you get rid of love handles. The truth is that no amount of working out can fix a bad diet.

With that said, there are several things you can do to get rid of your love handles. The first three tips are for those of you who are currently overweight and struggling with the love handles.

The last tip is more for those people who have been going steady with a good diet and training program. Keep this in mind as you read through this advice.

FOCUS ON YOUR NUTRITION

The initial step you must take if you want to lose weight and get rid of your love handles is to clean up your diet.

For now, forget about seeking out exercises that are dubbed as “magic bullets” for fat loss. You won’t see results from an exercise routine to burn oblique fat because it’s not possible to spot reduce belly fat.

Instead, you can eliminate your love handles by focusing on and improving your nutrition, and the extra side fat will go away with it.

Once you start focusing on your nutrition intently, you might realize that there are a few things you do daily which are preventing you from reaching your goal. Examples include consuming too much sugar and drinking empty calories such as beer or sugar-loaded beverages.

If you want to maintain a healthy diet, make sure to include protein, fibrous and starchy carbs, and cut out unhealthy fats and refined sugars.

GROW YOUR LATS

If you want to get rid of love handles, focus on your lats! When your lats become wider, it will give off the visual illusion that your waist is narrower.

To make your lats look wider than your waist, you need to do lat exercises with perfect form.

Now, when it comes to developing bigger lats that start at the love handles perfect form means that you need to pull the elbow back behind the body.

To avoid over-rotating and injuring yourself, you will likely need to decrease the weight until your elbow is able to wrap around behind your body.

By adding this lat training exercise to your routine, you’ll feel stronger and see a visible difference in the width of your lats while appearing to have a smaller waist.

TRAIN YOUR ABS MORE

If you’re already dedicated to eating healthy, the next step is to train your abs more frequently.

If you want people to focus less on your stomach area, then you’ll have to put in the effort and work those abs out more frequently.

I advocate for training your abdominal muscles regularly, even multiple times a week. You don’t have to spend hours upon hours working on them at once. The key is simply being consistent with it.

If you’re less experienced, hit the abs at least three times per week. If you’re more experienced and you’ve been training for a while, train your abs no less than five times per week.

TARGET THE OBLIQUES

Stubborn love handles are unfortunately common in very fit men, because it’s the number one place where men tend to carry their body fat. It’s also typically the last place they lose their body fat.

If you have less than 10% body fat but still can’t seem to lose those last few pounds, I have a solution for you.

Train with oblique workouts for definition!

Trust me, you should ignore anyone who tells you not to work your obliques because it will make your waist look wider. As you work to get rid of body fat, developing your obliques will make your waist look incredible.

Building core strength with easy oblique workouts not only gives you a more toned appearance, but it also creates the coveted V-taper look.

When you couple a firm midsection with well-defined lats, you’ll be on your way to looking amazing.

For more information on how to lose love handles, check out my article How To Get Rid of Love Handles.

7) HOW DO I GET V-CUT ABS?

Who doesn’t want that V-cut ab line that goes down below the waistline? You don’t have to have “good” genes or a special ab machine to achieve this look.

The V-cut is a highly sought-after abdominal shape that takes both dedication and the right exercises to achieve. I’ll show you one of the most challenging (and effective) exercises for achieving this look.

ACTIVATE THE TRANSVERSE ABDOMINIS

To start, lie on your back with both knees bent and feet shoulder-width apart—as if you’re about to do a basic crunch. Then, by contracting your stomach muscles and pulling them down toward the floor, engage your transverse abdominis—the deep core muscles.

Doing this will pop your transverse abdominis if you are already lean. This is because the transverse abdominis has a tendinous sheath that meshes with the internal obliques’ tendinous attachment, which blends into the V-Cut ab line.

TILT YOUR PELVIS

The second part of the exercise is to get your abdominals activated with a posterior pelvic tilt movement.

Starting from lying on your back, continue to engage your transverse abdominis muscles and perform a trunk curl to target your abs even more.

As you roll your hips off the floor, pull your belly button down toward the ground. Notice how my butt is lifted away from the floor and my lower back is pressed firmly against it.

ROTATE

Continue doing the two movements above. Flatten your mid-section and tilt your pelvis up, then rotate your upper body until you feel the contractions on the desired side of the V-cut ab line.

To work the left side of your V-taper, rotate your right side diagonally and downward toward your right knee at roughly a 45-degree angle. Do the opposite of this for the right side.

At this stage in the movement, only your shoulders should be off the floor. It is similar to knee-to-elbow sit-ups, but not entirely; you are moving your shoulders, though not both simultaneously.

The contralateral movement helps to strengthen the internal oblique on the side you rotate towards. If done correctly, forming a V-cut should be no trouble.

I would recommend performing 2 or 3 sets of 10 quality contractions, holding each contraction 6 to 7 seconds.

For more information on what it takes to get ripped v-cut abs, check out my article on How To Get V-Cut Abs.

Oblique workouts are an essential part of any fitness program. Not only can they help improve your overall mobility and range of motion, but they can also help give you a defined waistline.

By performing the best oblique exercises – both those that require and don’t require equipment – you can achieve a strong core with improved mobility and a more defined waistline.

Looking for effective oblique training for at home or the gym? We’ve got you covered! Check out our ATHLEAN-X programs to see which one best fits your goals and fitness level!

OBLIQUE WORKOUTS FAQ

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