Having a strong core is important. Not just if you want to lift heavy weights but also if you want to stay healthy and resilient throughout your life.
Your core helps to protect your spine and your internal organs, and that’s not all. It helps to transmit force from your other limbs in basically all athletic movements.
• Running
• Jumping
• Throwing
• Lifting
• Punching
• Kicking
• Swinging (axe, bat, golf club, etc)
Your obliques have a lot to do with every one of those movements. Not to mention, they’re also involved in breathing.
If you have a weak core, it can potentially lead to chronic low back pain, too (1). I dealt with lower back pain for most of my life until I built up a stronger core.
Trust me, it’s no picnic. It kept me from doing a lot of the things I wanted to do when I was younger.
So what are the best oblique exercises? That’s what I’m going to cover today.
In This Article:
• What Are Obliques?
• Best Oblique Exercises
• Sample Core Workouts
• Getting the Most out of Your Oblique Workouts
What Are Obliques?
Your obliques make up 4 muscles in your core. We all know about your abdominals, but your obliques are a bit different. They're the muscles that sit on either side of your abdominal muscles.
We all have internal and external obliques on both sides of our abs. The external obliques lie on top of the internal obliques. They run from the lower half of our ribs down to our pelvis on both sides of our ribcage. But what do they do?
One thing they do is help us forcefully exhale. That’s not something we’re going to be training though.
Their main functions deal with...
• Stabilization and rotation of our trunk
• Bending our body from side to side
• Work directly with the abdominal muscles to flex our trunk forward
So in pretty much every ab exercise, we’re also working our obliques. Once we add rotation into the mix, we’re directly training our obliques.
Now that you have a little background on the obliques, let’s dive into the best oblique exercises.
Best Oblique Exercises
There are so many different exercises that target your obliques and core. Throughout my years of training, I've found these to be the best oblique exercises out there...
Bicycle Crunches
This exercise targets your abs and obliques through rotation and crunches. It feels easy at first but starts to burn after you do enough!
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Lie on your back with an exercise mat beneath you. Bring your hands to touch both sides of your head around your ears. Your fingertips should just be resting here on your head the whole time, and at no point should you pull on your head or neck.
2. To begin, engage your abdominals to press your lower back against the mat and lift both feet 6 inches off the ground.
3. Pull one knee up towards your chest while the other leg remains straight. Simultaneously rotate your torso toward that knee and touch your elbow to that knee.
4. Straighten that leg out and rotate your torso back toward the center.
5. Immediately go into the opposite side, bringing the opposite knee up and rotating towards that knee.
6. If you do this right, it will look and feel like you’re pedaling a bicycle with your feet while rotating your torso back and forth.
7. Repeat on both sides for the same number of reps.
Side Plank
The side plank is an excellent oblique exercise. In fact, it’s one of the best oblique exercises you can do. It doesn’t involve movement, so it’s a static hold. Trust me, this one will have you checking the clock hoping it’s over soon.
It burns quite a bit, but it’s extremely effective!
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Lie on a mat on your side with your forearm on the ground and your feet stacked on top of each other. Be sure that your elbow is directly below your shoulder.
2. Push your forearm into the mat in order to push your upper body off the ground. Then, engage your obliques while pressing your feet into the mat to get your hips off the ground. Your ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders should all be in a straight line.
3. Hold this position either for a specified amount of time or as long as you can.
4. Repeat on the other side for the same amount of time.
Pallof Press
This is an interesting exercise. While your obliques help with rotation, this is an anti-rotation exercise. So your body is going to want to rotate, but you’ll have to use your obliques to stop you from rotating.
All you need is a resistance band and a post to tie it to.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Grab a looped resistance band, and wrap one end around a post at shoulder height. Pull the other end through the wrapped end to effectively tie it to the post.
2. Grab the band with both hands and do a quarter turn to the right so that the post is to your left.
3. Hold the band at your chest and step to your right to create tension in the band. Bend your knees and hips slightly to get into an athletic position.
4. Brace your core and press both hands out in front of your chest. Resist the band trying to pull you towards the post.
5. Pause for a second before bringing your hands back to your chest.
6. Repeat for an equal amount of reps on both sides.
Split Stance Rotational Med Ball Throw
This is a great exercise for explosive power in your obliques. If you want to build more power into your baseball or golf swing, this one's for you.
All you need is a weighted medicine ball and a wall to throw it against.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Grab a weighted medicine ball and stand 2 feet from a wall. Do a quarter turn to your right so that the wall is on your left.
2. Get into a split stance with your left foot forward. Lower down until your right knee is 6-8 inches off the ground.
3. Rotate all the way to your right, then explosively rotate left and throw the ball at the wall. You should do this as fast and as powerfully as you can.
4. Catch the ball, reset, and repeat for reps. Do an equal amount of reps on the opposite side.
Side Plank Cable Row
This will also work your back muscles, but it’s great for your obliques. It forces a tremendous amount of stabilization through your core.
You’ll need a cable with a handle attachment for this one.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Set the cable height to the lowest setting with a handle attached.
2. At arm's length away, get into a left side plank position facing the cable. Make sure your feet, hips, and shoulders are in a straight line, with your hips off the ground.
3. Grab the handle with your right hand and scoot back enough so that there is tension in the cable.
4. Brace your core and row the cable back by pulling with your elbow. Resist any rotation in your torso during the pull.
5. Squeeze your obliques and back muscles for a second, then slowly return to the starting position.
6. Repeat for an equal amount of reps on both sides.
Single-Arm Farmer’s Carry
This is a very functional exercise. Have you ever had to carry something heavy in one hand only, like a suitcase?
This one will help you train your obliques to stabilize your core when that happens. It’s also great for grip strength and for your traps.
All you need is one dumbbell.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Grab a heavier dumbbell in one hand only.
2. Brace your core to remain perfectly upright as you walk for a specified amount of time or distance.
3. Repeat for an equal amount of time or distance on the other side.
Dumbbell Side Bends
This exercise works your obliques in a way that doesn’t require rotation. It’s all about side bending and using your obliques to stand back up straight.
All you need for this one is a dumbbell.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Grab a dumbbell in your right hand only and stand up straight.
2. Without pushing your hips to the side, bend to your right. Keep your shoulders square, and do not turn as you bend.
3. When you’ve bent as far as you can, use your left oblique to pull yourself back to standing.
4. Squeeze your left oblique hard at the top, and repeat for reps.
5. Do an equal amount of reps on both sides.
Hanging Oblique Raise
This one requires a little bit of control, but it’s a great oblique exercise. You will also need to be able to hang from a pull-up bar the whole time.
All you need is a pull-up bar and your body.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Jump up to grab the pull-up bar at shoulder width.
2. Begin by bringing your knees up towards your chest. As you do this, swivel your hips to the left almost like trying to bring your right hip to your chest.
3. Hold this position at the top for a second and squeeze your right oblique.
4. Slowly return to the starting position in a controlled manner. Be careful not to let your body swing.
5. Repeat for an equal amount of reps on both sides.
Loaded Russian Twists
This is a classic exercise that can be done with no weight. However, it adds a great strength element with a weight plate or dumbbell added in.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Sit on the ground next to a weight plate or dumbbell. Pick it up and hold it 6-8 inches from your chest with both hands.
2. Lean back, bend your knees, and lift your feet in the air to balance on your butt.
3. Rotate to your left while keeping the weight in line with your chest. You can let the weight tap the ground after a full rotation.
4. Rotate to your right, straight into a rep on the other side.
5. Repeat for an equal amount of reps on both sides.
Cable Rotations
There are several ways people do this, but I’m going to explain it in the most functional way possible. All you need is your body and a cable with a handle attachment.
Because it involves full body rotation, in my opinion, it’s one of the best oblique exercises you can do. It trains true body mechanics more than isolation exercises.
Step-By-Step Directions
1. Set a cable to your shoulder height and attach a handle.
2. Grab the handle with your left hand and wrap your right hand around your left. We’re going to start the rotation to your left.
3. Step back so that there is tension in the cable, and get into a split stance. Your left foot will be your back foot, and lift your left heel off the ground.
4. Retract your shoulders and make sure your spine is neutral. Steps 5 and 6 will all be one fluid movement.
5. Start by opening your left hip by rotating your knee to your left. As you do this, plant your left heel.
6. Simultaneously raise your right heel as you rotate your whole body to the left 180 degrees. Your arms should remain straight through the rotation.
7. Slowly reverse the entire movement until you’re back at the starting position.
8. Repeat for an equal amount of reps on both sides.
Sample Oblique Workouts
There are many ways to throw the best oblique exercises into a workout. Not all of these exercises will be on this list, though.
Why?
The reason is because your core is made up of several muscles layered on top of each other. Not all of them are your obliques, but they all work together.
Your core can generally be trained a little more often than other muscle groups like your legs or back. This is because it’s a smaller muscle group and can recover a little quicker.
Most people don’t do as much volume on their abs and obliques, though. So they add them into other workouts.
I prefer to train my abs and obliques at the end of my workouts, personally. That’s just me, though.
You definitely can make an entire workout focused on your core if you want to. If you do a lot of volume (sets x reps x resistance), you should probably give them a little more rest before training them again.
Because everyone is at a different experience level, I’ll put three workouts here. One for beginners, one for intermediate lifters, and one for advanced lifters.
These examples will be for a workout only training your core. So I’m going to throw some ab exercises in as well.
Beginner Core Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Bicycle Crunches | 2 | 10 (Each Side) |
| Plank | 2 | 30-60 Seconds |
| Side Plank | 2 | 30-60 Seconds (Each Side) |
| Sit-Ups | 2 | 10 |
| Dumbbell Side Bends | 2 | 10 (Each Side) |
Intermediate Core Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Loaded Russian Twists | 2 | 10 (Each Side) |
| V-Ups | 2 | 10 |
| Pallof Press | 2 | 10 (Each Side) |
| Plank | 2 | 30-60 Seconds |
| Split Stance Rotational Med Ball Throw | 2 | 10 (Each Side) |
| Single-Arm Farmer’s Carry | 2 | 30 Seconds (Each Side) |
Advanced Core Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Dragon Flags | 2 | 5 |
| Cable Rotations | 2 | 10 (Each Side) |
| Single Leg V-Ups | 2 | 10 (Each Side) |
| Weighted Sit-Ups | 2 | 10 |
| Hanging Oblique Raise | 2 | 10 (Each Side) |
| Weighted Plank | 2 | 60 Seconds |
| Side Plank (with feet elevated) | 2 | 60 Seconds (Each Side) |
Getting the Most Out of Your Oblique Workouts
A lot of people want shredded abs and defined obliques. It’s a good look, and I can resonate with that, too.
The only problem is doing the best oblique exercises every week won’t get you there on its own. They’ll get stronger, and you may build some muscle, but that’s not the whole picture.
Getting a shredded and well-defined core involves being lean too. Losing body fat that typically covers your obliques and abs is crucial. Otherwise, you won’t really see them.
In order to get the most out of your oblique workouts, you have to eat correctly. By that, I mean eating in a calorie deficit so you can lose body fat over time.
That requires knowledge of nutrition. Not only that, but consistency. A lot of people struggle with this because they don’t have the education or accountability to stay on track.
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References:
(1) Kato S, Murakami H, Demura S, Yoshioka K, Shinmura K, Yokogawa N, Igarashi T, Yonezawa N, Shimizu T, Tsuchiya H. Abdominal trunk muscle weakness and its association with chronic low back pain and risk of falling in older women. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2019 Jun 3;20(1):273. doi: 10.1186/s12891-019-2655-4. PMID: 31159812; PMCID: PMC6547466.
