Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
Give your sides some love! When people think about the "core", they usually just consider the rectus abdominis (aka the 6-pack muscle), with exercises like hanging leg raises, planks, and maybe some crunches or sit ups. While there's nothing wrong with those exercises or placing focus on your abs, the core is actually composed of multiple muscle groups that also need attention. One of those is known as the obliques (internal and external obliques).
Having a strong set of obliques is crucial to help with rotation and even more importantly, to resist rotation. But they do more than that, such as enhancing your overall aesthetics.
So, with the obliques top of mind here, we are going to provide you with 9 of the best exercises to build an insanely powerful set of obliques. This article will tell you all you need to know and more:
- What are the obliques?
- What do obliques do?
- Benefits of training the obliques
- The 9 best oblique exercises
- How to program oblique training
Pay attention to the information because if you follow the advice in this guide, you're going to look better, perform better, and create a stronger core to decrease injury.
Oblique Anatomy: What Are The Obliques?
Your obliques are two of four main abdominal muscles:
- External Obliques
- Internal Obliques
- Rectus Abdominis
- Transverse Abdominis
As mentioned, your rectus abdominis is two independent sets of parallel muscles which run up the middle of your stomach. These are primarily responsible for your spine and core flexion (as with a crunch).
The transverse abdominis basically wraps around your core and acts like a corset, keeping everything nice and tight. When comparing your abdominal muscles, the transverse abdominis is the primary muscle used to create internal abdominal pressure.
Lastly, we have internal and external obliques. Yes, there are actually two sets of obliques, with one set lying beneath the other. We're pretty sure you could guess which one is which, but the internal obliques sit superficial to the external obliques. That being said, when we speak of training the "obliques," we generally refer to the external obliques as that's what we see.
Still, these two sets of muscles always work in unison together. In other words, there aren't "external" oblique exercises, nor are the "internal" oblique exercises. As mentioned, your internal and external obliques will work in unison but in the opposite manner. For example, your left internal oblique and right external oblique will fire together to create the same movement.
That being said, these two sets of muscles run down the entire sides of the lower torso and actually wrap around the sides of the body. The insertion and origin of the external and internal obliques will be opposite since they work in conjunction with the opposing side. For example, the external oblique origin is located on the ribs (anterior side of the body). In contrast, its insertion is located on various spots in the spine (posterior side of the body). However, the internal oblique origin is located further posterior, and its insertion is located farther anteriorly.
Below are the exact locations:
External obliques:
- Origin: RIbs 5-12
- Insertion: xiphoid process, the outer lip of the iliac crest, pubic crest, pubic tubercle, linea alba, inguinal ligament, anterior superior iliac spine
Internal obliques:
- Origin: Inguinal ligament, Iliac crest, Lumbodorsal fascia
- Insertion: Linea alba, pectineal line of pubis, ribs 10-12
Oblique Function: What Do The Obliques Do?
As mentioned several times above, one of the primary functions of the obliques is providing rotational power. However, it does more than just twist. Let's examine the main functions of the obliques as this will help us when looking at what exercises we want to use to train them. Remember, when you are training a muscle, you want to use a most similar movement to its normal function.
1. The Obliques Assist In The Rotation Of The Core
Due to the positioning and structure of the obliques, they are one of the primary core rotational muscles. This means when you are performing motions in the transverse plane (rotating), your obliques are the primary movers. Think of movements like the baseball swing. To do this, the external obliques will work with the contralateral internal obliques. This is just a fancy way of saying the opposite, as in the right external oblique works with the left internal oblique and vice-versa.
When looking at their rotation actions, we see that the internal and external obliques work together as follows;
- Right external oblique and left internal oblique to rotate left
- Left external oblique and right internal oblique to rotate right
2. The Obliques Resist Rotation
At the same time, the obliques are responsible for anti-rotation. In fact, perhaps the world's leading expert in core training, Dr. Stu McGil, actually believes anti-rotation should be the primary focus of your core training for performance and health.
This is because our bodies use anti-rotation much more frequently in real life to help stabilize the core and provide a base to work off of. Imagine opening a heavy door with one arm but you didn't resist the pulling motion. Instead of pulling the door towards you, you'd just rotate your body towards it in a rotational manner. Still, this can also play a major role in sports, especially contact sports. A strong core that can resist strong forces will help protect the spine and internal organs from any trauma that could occur.
3. The Obliques Assist In Maintaining Core Stability
Similar to providing anti-rotation, the obliques also provide general core stability. When providing stability, as with anti-rotation, both sets of obliques will fire simultaneously in equal proportions to provide a stabilizing force. This can be done in just about any direction, such as preventing bending over to the side (think carrying a bag in one hand) or keeping the core stiff.
One of the most common examples of this is simply walking. We naturally produce a natural sway from left to right when we walk. This intensity will then pick up the faster we go, and in fact, the core is extremely active during running. To be clear, the obliques aren't the only core muscles that work to provide this stability. In reality, all core muscles will fire to achieve this but the obliques play a significant role, especially with rotational forces.
4. The Obliques Assist In Lateral Bending
The obliques will also assist in lateral bending. Think if you were to lean over to the side and then come back up; this is done primarily by the obliques. In fact, one of the most common core exercises you see is people doing standing lateral crunches (except it's common to see them perform them incorrectly...see below!). Regardless, any type of lateral flexion will rely heavily on the obliques.
5. The Obliques Assist In Flexion Of The Spine (Upper Towards Lower)
While rotational and lateral movements are the primary jobs of the obliques (as well as anti-rotation and stability!), they're still involved with flexion. They work with rectus abdominis to flex the spine, specifically by pulling the upper part of the torso towards the lower, as in crunches. However, to really target the flexion of the obliques, utilize flexion of the spine with some rotation; this will really get obliques to fire.
The 9 Best Oblique Exercises For A Strong Core
Above we went over how the obliques work and why you need to be doing them. Now let's look at the absolute best exercises you can do to train your obliques. And pay attention as we're going to address all of the functions of the obliques from above.
1. Farmer Carry
Let's get one thing straight. Farmer carries are simply one of the very best exercises you can do. Even though they are typically associated with the sport of Strongman, everyone should be doing them. They are one of the best exercises to improve overall muscular strength and improve your conditioning. Plus, you can also load them to hit different training variables such as improving your max strength, anaerobic capacity, or aerobic system.
Still, farmer carries will train every single muscle in your body while also being low impact. A farmer's carry is performed simply by picking up two objects with one in each hand. Next, and this is the technical part, you walk. Yes, that’s really all there is to it. While there are some cues to follow (which we'll discuss below), farmer carries really are that easy to perform, at least from a technical standpoint. That being said, they can be brutal.
We are concerned with the walking aspect because, as we mentioned above, our bodies will want to naturally sway back and forth when we walk. This tendency is only exacerbated when we hold two objects as we now have higher torque swinging through. What this does is it places an even higher demand on your core, including your obliques, to provide stabilization.
Pro Tip: For an even better oblique workout, carry two different-sized objects. This will cause even more instability in your walking.
How To Perform A Farmer Carry:
- Stand between two objects with handles.
- Ideally, you have access to an actual set of farmer carry bars. If not, kettlebells work great, but dumbbells or even a trap bar would work well too.
- Bend to grab them and position your body as if you're going to do a trap bar deadlift.
- Stand up with the implements while keeping good form.
- You can also place the implements on a raised surface to mitigate the need to bend.
- While maintaining an erect spine, walk in a controlled manner.
- As you walk, be sure to keep your head up and shoulders pulled back. If your head goes down, your shoulders and back will follow.
- Carry for the prescribed time or distance.
2. Suitcase Carry
The next best oblique exercise is another carry; this one is called a suitcase carry. Just like carrying a suitcase, this carry will have you carry one object in one hand at a time. This will cause an even greater stimulus on your obliques as it must fire hard to prevent the body from bending over sideways under the weight of one heavy implement. In fact, this carry may even be better than the farmer's carry for isolating the obliques (but you still should do both!)
How To Perform A Suitcase Carry (basically the same exact thing as a farmer carry!):
- Stand next to an implement with a handle.
- Bend down and pick up the implement with good form.
- Walk for the desired distance or time.
- As you walk, maintain an erect waist and keep your head up.
3. Single-Arm Side Deadlift
The single-arm deadlift simply involves performing a deadlift with only one implement. Doing so will train the obliques in a very similar manner as a suitcase carry as the side not holding anything will be forced to fight the resistance from pulling them sideways. This is accomplished by the obliques firing to maintain stability.
The main difference between the suitcase carry and single-arm side deadlift is that the force is moving forward with a suitcase carry. With the single-arm side deadlift, the force occurs vertically, which could perhaps place more force on the obliques. Regardless, these work in the same manner as they contract to resist movement rather than cause movement. Remember, this is actually the primary function of your core! Flexing and rotating is incredible, but your core is designed to resist movement! This makes these movements authentic functional training… it's just that the function is not-moving.
Regardless, you're still going to get a fantastic full-body workout as well because that's what deadlifts do…they're the king of exercise!s
How To Perform The Single-Arm Side Deadlift:
- Set up an implement with a handle. In this case, a farmer's carry bar would be extra beneficial as the handle will sit higher. Because you will perform multiple reps, this shorter range of motion could be beneficial.
- Push your hips back so that your body begins to sink. Go down until you can grab the handle.
- Even though your other hand is empty, still let it hang down to the side. You can also pretend like you are holding something. This can just help maintain proper form.
- Setup with a normal body position as if you're doing a trap bar deadlift.
-
Remember your cues:
- Shins should be relatively vertical.
- Your shoulders are slightly in front of your knees.
- Your arms should hang down in line with your shins.
- Keep your scapula retracted and shoulders pulled back. - Now stand up by driving down with your legs and extending your hips.
4. Pallof Press
The Pallof press may be the simplest and most effective exercise that is never done. Named after the physical therapist John Pallof, the Pallof press is easily the best anti-rotation exercise that you can do. It's straightforward and will work your obliques like no other.
To perform the Pallof press, a pulley system works best. However, you could create a similar stimulus using resistance bands as well. The Pallof press has you stand so that your body is in line with the path of resistance. You then grab the puller or band and bring it up to your chest. Next, you push your arms out, which will cause the line to pull, thus lifting the weight. As your arms go out, resistance is applied to them, and the arms begin to act a lever as the force will want to rotate the body back towards the resistance. To counteract this rotation, your obliques will have to fire to resist the rotation. Just remember to do both sides!
How To Perform The Pallof Press:
- Determine if you will use a cable pulley system or resistance bands and set it up.
- Grab the handle or band and stand away from the point of attachment. Be sure to stand far enough away so that all of the tension is out of the cable or band.
- Pull your hands to your chest. Your shoulders should be turned so that the line runs parallel with them.
- When ready, slowly begin to press your arms out straight in front of you.
- Your hands must maintain the same height to ensure you keep the load from dropping. Also, if your hands drop, the amount of pull will decrease significantly.
- Push all the way out until your arms are fully extended. Pause for a couple seconds, and then slowly bring your hands back to your chest.
- This is a slow movement, and 1 rep should take at least 5 seconds.
5. Woodchoppers
Woodchoppers are an awesome exercise that kill the obliques AND are incredibly versatile. Hence the name, they mimic chopping wood's motion but actually utilize anti-rotation and downward flexion. The movement will require rotation at the hip and some flexion as you pull the resistance downwards. When you perform the movement, be sure to keep the arms straight out in front of the body. Some trainees will accidentally pull with the arms to move the weight, so let the obliques rotate the torso to move the weight.
How To Perform Woodchoppers:
- Woodchoppers are best performed using a cable system, but you can use a light 41" loop resistance band as well (as pictured above).
- Set the cable at the highest setting. It should be above your head.
- Stand similarly to the Pallof press so that your shoulders are parallel with resistance. However, you will want to stand back about arm's length distance.
- Garb the handle and straighten out your arms.
- Keeping your arms straight let the resistance pull your arms back.
- Your toes and hips should still be pointing forward as your torso rotates backward.
- Your arms should go up at an angle. Your hips may rotate some at the highest point but keep it minimal.
- Now, keeping your arms straight, you will rotate your resistance away from the source down at an angle. The angle should align with whatever angle your arms are pulled up at.
- Remember, you will rotate while also utilizing some flexion as you bring your arms down to the lowest point.
- This movement is meant to be performed ballistically with power. This means that you come down forcefully with control.
Variations Of Woodchoppers:
There are also other variations of the woodchopper that you can utilize just to change things up:
- Neutral Swing: The neutral swing is performed exactly like the woodchopper, except you will set the cable at a neutral position. Your arms should be straight out in front of you, and they will stay at this level as you rotate your torso.
- Upward Swing: Same thing, but now you set the cable to start from the low position. You then rotate your torso in an upward swing.
After performing normal woodchoppers, these are easy to throw in just to add a different stimulus.
6. Barbell Rollouts
Barbell rollouts are simply the best core exercise there is. And yes, we mean that. Multiple studies have shown that barbell rollouts (or variation) illicit maximal activation for every basically core muscle there is, including the obliques. Obviously, in this manner, the obliques will work in conjunction with the other core muscles to provide maximal stabilization to the core. This is due to the extreme amount of stress placed on the body to keep the hips from falling.
If you have never tried these, be careful. You will wake up the following day and definitely realize you haven't really been training your care as hard as you thought you had been. That's due to the soreness you will have…so go slow!!!!
Further, you can perform this movement from the knees or standing. The "rollout" part is the same as the starting position. Further, one of the great things about barbell rollouts is that you can use more plates to create a greater load. This is because the force needed to roll back will be greater. This makes it extremely easy to apply progressive overload.
How To Perform Barbell Rollouts:
- Decide if you will perform the exercise on your knees or standing.
- Set up a barbell with plates. Be sure the plates are firm enough to support your weight. Light bumper plates are too flimsy to work well.
- Grab the barbell with an overhand grip a little wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Note: Shoulder mobility may be an issue at the end, so a wider grip will be easier if your shoulder mobility needs work…but also work on that too!
- Slowly let the barbell begin to roll out in front of you and let your body begin to come forward.
- Continue to go, and your body will reach a point where your hips will need to extend, and the barbell will roll out in front of your head. This is when the exercise really starts to get tricky.
- Continue going and let the barbell roll out all the way in front of your head. Go down as low as you, preferably reaching a point where your shoulders are in line with your torso.
- Come back up by flexing your core and pulling your body in.
7. Side Crunches
Side crunches are crunches done on your side. Instead of coming forward, your body will move up laterally with your elbow moving towards your head. This is a great isolation exercise for the obliques and works contrary to side bends, making them great complementary exercises.
How To Side Crunches:
- Lay down on your side on the floor. You may find using a mat to be more comfortable.
-
There are several ways you can place your legs. Choose from the below but don't stress about what method to use. Just alternate them or see if you find if one method allows greater activation or not:
- Straight out
- Both knees bent
- Bottom knee bent and top leg straight
- Straight out in front of you, as if you're sitting - Place the "ground" hand on your obliques. It can sometimes help to actually feel your obliques concentrate and make that mind-muscle contraction.
- Place the other hand behind your head, so your elbow points down your side.
- Crunch up (which is to the side of your body) in a slow and controlled manner.
- The range of motion is small so at the end, give a good 2-3 second squeeze to maximize time under tension.
8. Russian Twist
Russian twists are one of the most popular oblique exercises, except it's one of the most butchered. Russian twists are great at training the rotational function of the obliques, assuming you're rotating the toro. The number one error is that when people perform Russian twists to train the obliques, they concentrate too much on touching each side with their hand rather than twisting their torso. In other words, they are focusing too much on the wrong variable. While you should feel either side of the ground, you do so by rotating your entire torso, not simply reaching with your hands. If you get that right, you then have yourself a great exercise.
How To Perform Russian Twists:
- Sit down on the ground with your knees flexed in front of you.
- Bring your torso up so that you are at about a 45-degree angle.
- Place your arms out in front of your body.
- Now rotate your torso to one side. To do so correctly, think about rotating your shoulders to face to the side. Touch the ground and then turn the other way so that your shoulders face the other direction.
- Continue going back and forth.
Russian Twist Variations:
Performing Russian twists as described is a great beginner oblique exercise. However, eventually, you will need to up the intensity. There are two ways to do this:
- Lift your legs up in the air. This will increase the total activation of your core.
- Hold a weighted implement. Holding a medicine ball, weighted plate, kettlebell or dumbbell is a great way to quickly increase the intensity.
9. Side Bends
We talked about these above. Extremely easy, possibly overused, and often poorly executed. However, using them in conjunction with other exercises is a great way to add this stimulus. Let's see how to properly perform side bends.
How To Perform Side Bends:
- Hold a weighted implement in one hand. Either a dumbbell or kettlebell works excellent.
- Place the other hand on your waist.
- Slowly (emphasis on SLOWLY), let the weight pull your body down to the side. Be sure to get a good stretch and go as low as you can.
- Once you've reached your max, come back up, but again SLOWLY! This is a significant error as many people speed through these. Go slow and really concentrate on squeezing your core.
- Come all the way up until fully erect. Then stop and go back down. Another error is people going way too far to the other side. Once you are fully erect, going farther won't do anything.
- The other big mistake is to be sure to only hold one implementation. Too often, trainees will hold two objects. All this does is mitigate the off-balance, which means less activation.
How To Program Oblique Training
Oblique training, and core training in general, are often performed incorrectly. First, we'll point out some common errors and then show you how to remedy them.
Error #1 Not Training The Core Frequently Enough:
Related to #2, many people simply don't train the core "frequently" enough. Emphasis on frequent. The core is one of the most used muscles we have, meaning that you would likely get better results by training it with fewer exercises more frequently.; even more than other muscles. Basically, instead of having 4 core exercises on one day, train 1 core exercise during 4 sessions.
Error #2 Having "Core" Days:
As mentioned, not enough frequency is related to having a "core day". The core muscles are just like any other muscle in that "destroying your muscle" isn't a good thing in balancing proper recovery. Further, you are only training them once a week with purpose, leaving an entire week of no stimulus. There are many nuances there as compound lifts are actually great core exercises, but we are talking about specific movements. Regardless, spread your core training throughout the week and utilize two movements with intensity. Then go home. There's no need to obliterate your core.
Error #3 Working In The Same Rep Scheme:
This is one of the least talked about core training errors. When people train their core, it's often with very high reps (15+). Again, your core is a muscle, so would you only train your chest with very light loads? Of course not! There's this idea that only very high volumes for hypertrophy will work for the core muscles when you need to use some strength movements! Therefore, start using some heavy exercises with your oblique training and use the entire rep scheme. Since loads are hard to measure, think about a movement that only allows 6 reps max.
Error #4 Only Using One Motion:
Remember, your core consists of four major muscle groups, including the obliques. Further, each muscle group has more than one function. Therefore, why do people only do some sort of spinal flexion movement like a crunch or sit up, or an anti-flexion movement such as a GHD?
Here's just a shortlist of other movement patterns you need to include:
- Rotation
- Anti-Rotation
- Flexion (i.e. legs to head, reverse crunch)
- Lateral flexion (i.e. Side bends)
- Flexion with rotation
- Anti-lateral flexion
Now you don't need to hit all of these movement patterns every week, but you should run across at least one exercise to address each pattern every 2 or 3 weeks.
Also, keep in mind that farmer carries, single hand deadlift, and suitcase carries can be performed in your training as total body exercise and not specific “core” exercises. This means that on leg day, you could perform:
- Farmer carry (main workout)
- Woodchoppers (core)
- Pallof press (core)
Image courtesy of Marcus Filly's Instagram
Start Training Your Obliques Now!
While many people may do lateral bends, the obliques are often a side-note when training the "core" as the rectus abdominis takes the main stage. While you should definitely still train the 6-pack muscle (it may also be a 4 pack or 8 pack depending on your genetics), you need to share some of that specific ab workout time with the obliques. Training the obliques will have a massive effect on your performance and your physique. If you want to sculpt a thick-set core, this can only be done by giving the oblique muscles some love.
Further, start training the obliques (and your entire core) the way they were designed to function. We listed a range of exercises that cover all patterns and allow heavier loads. Use all of them in a cyclical pattern, and you'll be sporting a mean set of obliques in no time.
More Abdominal Exercise Resources:
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Garett Reid
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