Exercises For The Lower Abdominal Muscle Obliqes

Challenge your abs, obliques, and lower back with this set of core strengthening exercises. A thorough core workout routine designed to transform, tone, and sculpt your midsection!

1. Criss cross crunches: 60 seconds. Stand with your hands behind your head, bend your right leg and lift your knee as high as you can. Rotate your torso to the right and bring your right knee to your left elbow. Repeat on the opposite side.

2. Plank bird dog: 45 seconds. Start in a plank position and extend one leg and the opposite arm at the same time. Pause for 2 to 3 seconds, return to the starting position, and switch sides.

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3. Dumbbell leg loop: 45 seconds. Sit on the floor, hold a dumbbell on your right hand, lean your torso back, and lift your legs a few inches off the floor. Drive your right knee up toward the chest, and loop the dumbbell under the right knee and to the left hand. Switch legs and repeat.

4. Leaning camel: 60 seconds. Get down on your knees, with your thighs perpendicular to the floor, and hold the dumbbell in front of your chest. Slowly lean your torso back and then return to the initial position.

5. Plank straight arm kickback: 30 seconds + 30 seconds. Grab a second dumbbell and get into a plank position, with your wrists under your shoulders and your feet hip-width apart. Lift one arm up and back, keeping it straight. Lower your arm to the starting position, repeat for 30 seconds, and switch sides.

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6. Bird dogs: 60 seconds. Start on your hands and knees with the hands under the shoulders and the knees under the hips. Extend one leg and the opposite arm at the same time and pause. Switch sides and repeat.

7. Tabletop reverse pike: 45 seconds. Sit on the mat with your knees bent, your arms extended back, your fingers facing the body, and lift your butt off the mat, coming into a tabletop position. Lower your hips, straighten your legs, and lengthen the spine. Repeat for 45 seconds.

8. Side crunch leg raise: 45 seconds. Lie on your back with your legs fully extended and your arms by your sides. Raise your left leg and your upper back off the floor, reach your arms to the left side, and crunch. Switch sides and repeat.

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9. Dumbbell side bend: 30 seconds + 30 seconds. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a dumbbell in your right hand. Bend to your right side, as far as it feels comfortable, and pause. Return to the starting position, repeat for 30 seconds, and then switch sides.

10. Side plank rotation: 30 seconds + 30 seconds. Start in a side plank position, with your right shoulder over your elbow, your body in a straight line, and reach your left hand toward the ceiling. Twist your torso forward and slowly place your left arm under your body. Repeat and then switch sides.

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Don’t ignore your oblique muscles! They’re just as critical for a strong core as your abs and lower back muscles. Add the exercises below into your daily workouts to take your oblique muscle strength to the next level.

Key Exercises To Add To Your Oblique Workout

When you talk about “core muscles”, most people immediately think about either abs or lower back muscles. Both are critical–abs for that beautiful six-pack, and back muscles for maintaining healthy posture and protecting your spine.

The obliques are sometimes considered part of your abdominal muscles, as they are located on the front sides of your torso. There are two oblique muscles: the triangle-shaped internal obliques, and the large, thin external obliques.

These muscles play a critical role in your movement—without them, you wouldn’t be able to twist, turn, or bend. They need just as much strengthening as your abs or lower back, and focusing on training them is crucial for developing a strong, injury-resistant core.

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Below, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best oblique exercises you can do to target these critical core muscles. Not only will this help to strengthen the “twisting” muscles on your sides, but building strong obliques can help to tighten up the sides of your stomach (thereby eliminating the dreaded “muffin top”).

Incorporate these into your weekly workout sessions—either as a part of your abs workout, or in a day on their own—and you’ll build a rock-solid core that will keep you moving easily for the rest of your life.

This exercise targets your abdominal muscles, but thanks to the twisting unilateral (one side only) movement, you pay extra special attention to your obliques. It’s an amazingly simple exercise that anyone can do, but it’s hard enough that you’ll feel the burn within a matter of minutes.

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You’re going to both love and hate this exercise! It takes the challenge of the Mountain Climber and doubles down by adding a twisting motion that sets your oblique muscles burning like few other workouts can. It’s both an amazing strength-building exercise and excellent high-intensity cardio training. A few sets of these in your workout will leave you dripping sweat!

This exercise looks simple (and it really is), but the unilateral movement doubles down on its effectiveness by shredding your core along with your abs. It’s basically the same as doing a side crunch, but with far less strain on your neck and in a comfortable position lying on your back. Get ready to bring it!

Woodchopper is a great weighted exercise you can do with a cable machine, a dumbbell, kettlebell, or even just a weight disc or heavy object. It’s a movement that mimics real life (the twisting up-and-down motion of chopping wood, hence its name) and thus will strengthen you for the actual activities you’ll be engaged in on a daily basis.

Pain In The Abdominal Muscles

This will be both one hell of a core workout and great training for your arms, shoulders, and legs. It’s a full-body workout that will develop a rock-solid, mobile core.

If you’re worried about your lower back or feeling extra stiffness in your hips (after a day spent sitting down), you can give your obliques an excellent workout using this static (no movement) exercise. The fact that it is static means there is less risk of lower back strain or sprain, but because your muscles have to engage to hold the position, you get an amazing workout in the same amount of time.

This is an amazingly simple, totally safe exercise that can be adapted to increase or decrease its difficulty. For example, raising one leg off the ground doubles down on the oblique workout, while placing your upper foot on the ground adds support and makes the exercise a little bit easier for beginner resistance trainees.

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However you do it, it’s incredibly effective at targeting your core, primarily your obliques but also your abs, lower back, glutes, and hips.

If you’re a more experienced resistance trainee looking to push your core strength to the next level, this is the exercise for you! It’s incredibly challenging on multiple levels: your shoulders and arms get an amazing workout as you hang from the Pull-Up bar, your abs and obliques are engaged in moving your legs smoothly through the entire motion, and your other core muscles work together with your legs to keep your body stable and reduce swinging. The result: an exponentially stronger, more mobile body!

You’ll feel the burn in your hands and forearms (hanging for this long takes serious grip strength), as well as in your hips, abs, and obliques. It’s an intermediate/advanced exercise that will deliver amazing core-strengthening results.

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This is a much more dynamic movement that will help to build explosive power in your entire body—not just your obliques, but in your abs, quads, glutes, arms, and shoulders. It’s a favorite of CrossFitters who want to take their strength, endurance, and stamina to the next level.

Note: You can also perform this one with a partner, passing it back and forth rather than bouncing it off the wall.

You’ll find that this movement makes your core very resistant to twisting while carrying heavy weight, making you less prone to the typical lower back injuries.

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Side Bend is a simple exercise that literally anyone can do. If you’re a newbie on your first workout, just using your bodyweight will suffice. If you’re an experienced resistance trainee, adding a bit (or a lot) of weight will increase the difficulty sufficiently to make it a challenge. The beauty is, it’s maximally effective however you do it!

These eight