Now, you may hear oblique exercises and automatically envision theRussian twist.
What are your obliques?
Your obliques are core muscles that run along the sides of your torso.
Katie Thompson
The internal obliques sit underneath the external obliques, he explains, making them a deeper core muscle.
As Savage puts it: Obliques are like the unsung heroes of the core muscle group.
For one, theyre an accessorybreathing muscle: They pull your chest downward as you exhale, explains Hodges.
And they do so while were standing, walking, running, bending or rotating, he explains.
How can you work your obliques?
Whats the best way to train your obliques?
You dont need dedicated obliques workouts to effectively smoke this muscle group.
Keep in mind: You dont need to use a lot of load to reap the rewards here.
There are tons of great oblique exercises that just require your bodyweight.
That misconception drives a lot of people to overtrain.
So you definitely dont need to do targeted obliques exercises every day (and youshouldnt,either!).
That should be more than enough to get to strengthening those all-important side muscles!
The Exercises
Suitcase Carry
This exercise is all about anti-lateral flexion.
Renegade Row
This move, a challengingplank variationand weighted oblique exercise, involves anti-rotation.
It also works yourupper back and biceps.
Bird-Dog
A beginner-friendly core exercise, thebird-doginvolves anti-rotation.
As you move your arm and opposite leg, your trunk and hips want to twist.
Your obliques fire up to stop that from occurring.
Russian Twist
A classic oblique exercise, this move dynamically works the your side abs through rotation.
Make this move more difficult byholding a dumbbell or kettlebellfor extra load.
Wood-Chop
The wood chop is another move that works your obliques through rotation.
The dumbbell abs exercise also hits your arms, shoulders, and legs.
It also works the small muscles around your shoulders.
Single-Leg Jackknife
This exercise works your obliques through rotation since it involves reaching across your body.
This may seem like a slight rotation, but that subtle twist makes a big difference, says Savage.
It also fires up your shoulder stabilizers and inner thighs.
Alternating Standing Side Crunch
Another standing abs exercise, this move targets your obliques through side bending.
Youll also hit your glutes, quads,hamstringsplus two other core musclesthetransverse abdominisand rectus abdominis in this move.
