The Very Best Oblique Exercises For Men And Women To Get An Awesome, Sexy Waistline
It seems like I’m always hearing about six pack abs but not too often is there talk about the oblique muscles. In my opinion, these can really make or break an awesome midsection. What is tricky about doing oblique exercises is that you really have to be careful that you are doing the right types of movements. Not only can you over-develop them to where they look too large, but you can also tweak your spine.
Sometimes you will see men with really big oblique muscles which actually takes away from a good V shaped body — even one with good definition. As for women, the same principle applies. Big and bulky is certainly not what you’re going to want to shoot for when it comes to your waistline.
Years ago, I read that you are never supposed to do oblique exercises because of the fact that building them too large will negatively effect your look. Although I agree with the fact that you shouldn’t try to build large obliques, I completely disagree with the fact that you should never work them. As long as you do your ab workouts with the right exercises, I think you definitely should work them.
Oblique Exercises
Whether you are a man or woman, the best oblique workouts are going to concentrate on tightening and toning the muscle more so than building them. To do this, you should mainly do isometric exercises.
As defined by Wikipedia, an isometric exercise is:
“… a form of exercise involving the static contraction of a muscle without any visible movement in the angle of the joint …meaning that in these exercises the length of the muscle and the angle of the joint do not change, though contraction strength may be varied. This is in contrast to isotonic contractions, in which the contraction strength does not change, though the muscle length and joint angle do.”
“Bad” VS “Good” Oblique Muscles
In case you aren’t on board, just try searching for obliques and see which ones stand out as looking better. This picture shows two men with developed core muscles; one has larger oblique muscles while the other has a more tight & firm look.
Alright … hopefully we’re on the same page. The tighter and less bulky oblique muscles look much better than the larger and bulky.
3 Best Oblique Exercises For Men & Women
Exercise #1. Renegade Rows – These really hit the oblique muscles well.
Start out in a pushup position and holding a dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand. As with most exercises you’ll do, form is key. Don’t worry about using a real heavy weight on these. Make sure to hold a solid plank position and do these in a controlled motion.
As you row one dumbbell up, concentrate on stabilizing your body with the other arm and keeping a tight core. As you lower your arm stay tight and in control. Easily place the dumbbell on the floor and row with the opposite arm.
Here’s a quick video from Yavor over at Relative Strength doing a renegade row with proper form. Notice there is no twisting.
Exercise #2. Side Plank – On Hand – This is a great isometric oblique exercise.
Lie on your side with your right hand on the floor or a mat. Tighten your core and lift your hips up so that your body is in a straight line. An option is to put your left arm straight up so that your right to left arm make a straight line.
Exercise #3. Side Plank – On Elbow – Slightly easier than on hand.
Lie on your side with your right elbow on the floor or a mat. Tighten your core and lift your hips up so that your body is in a straight line. Make sure that you don’t allow your hips to sag – it gets tough after a while.
Here is a video of a good example of doing side planks.
Even The Best Workout Is Not Enough By Itself
Although these are great exercises that you can do to tighten and tone your obliques without making them big and bulky, just doing them alone will not give you a great midsection.
Well, it might be great, but if it’s hidden under a layer of fat then no one is going to see it.
The truth is – you must have a low enough body fat percentage for your abs to look good. There are many good workout routines out there, even ones focusing solely on your abs. But the ultimately – your diet must be good as well.
More Great Core Exercises
For some more exercises to target your core and for an awesome plank routine, checkout my post about the some of the best core exercises that I’ve found for developing good abs without doing sit up or crunches.
Also, I put together some good lower ab exercises to target the hard to hit section of your abs without wrecking havoc on your spine.
Dave - Not Your Average Fitness Tips
May 1, 2011 @ 4:42 pm
Definitely some great oblique exercises. I like to perform them all. It means nothing without having low enough body fat though.
Kevin
March 4, 2012 @ 8:52 am
Very true, thanks for the comment Dave. It doesn’t matter how nice your obliques are if you’ve got too much fat covering them.
Brandon
March 21, 2012 @ 2:25 pm
Would you consider Gymnastics Circles aka Pommel Horse to be a great oblique workout?
Kevin
March 23, 2012 @ 1:35 pm
Brandon, you know what man, those actually do look really good.
There isn’t too much “bending” or twisting and the movement looks a lot like a side plank.
I’ve been doing side planks and straight planks with a rocking squeeze and it’s been working nicely … this looks like it produces the same effect.
Here ya go -> http://youtu.be/u_iG_DWLdN8 Bob Harper showing us how it’s done! 😉
Keith
March 23, 2012 @ 9:50 am
Great post Kevin. However, I agree with Dave, although doing these exercises will build a strong core, most people will never be able to truly see their results because they’ll always have too much body fat.
Kevin
March 23, 2012 @ 1:36 pm
Absolutely Keith, there’s no denying that when it comes your core, abs and obliques that it takes low, low body fat for them to really look great.
Troy
March 23, 2012 @ 11:50 am
Kevin, Renegade rows are incredible. A while ago I ran across Steve Maxwell’s Man Maker movement with kettlebells – super set of renegade rows, clean and press with dual kettlebells. Brutal.
Which made me come up with a question for you. What do you think about weighted oblique exercises such as kettlebell windmills?
Kevin
March 23, 2012 @ 1:41 pm
Hey Troy,
I honestly haven’t done much (any) actual kettlebell workouts so … now that I’m back from watching videos on YouTube … I’m not really a fan.
These don’t look like they’re BAD for your spine or anything but it sure looks like it would build size in the obliques. In my opinion, I think you should try to keep your obliques small and dense to give your upper body a V shape … just my $.02!
Troy
March 23, 2012 @ 4:18 pm
Back to the pull-up bar to build the V and the Bulgarian Training Bag to burn the fat. And then hit your top-3: renegade rows and side planks both high and low. Sounds like a great plan to prep for summer.
Brad
March 24, 2012 @ 1:45 pm
Renegade rows are one of my all-time fav total core movements. Unfortunately people often try to lift too much weight when they do it which ultimately reduces the effectiveness of the movement.
Cool looking site too…I even see you used a picture of me in one of your lower abs articles!
Kevin
March 25, 2012 @ 12:51 pm
Hey Brad, heck yeah dude, you’re ripped! I wasn’t sure if that was you or not. I’ll add a link to your site under the pic.
Robert King
March 24, 2012 @ 2:42 pm
Kevin,
The obliques are one part of my body which I’m hoping to improve this year. Right now, mine are still a bit too rounded and bulky, so over the course of this year, I hope to make them more like the picture on the right rather than the picture on the left.
My plan is to get my body fat percentage down as far as I can, then use specific oblique targeting exercises if needed.
What percentage of body fat should I be aiming for in order to get a better idea of whether or not I might need to introduce oblique exercises? I would assume under 10% right?
Kevin
March 25, 2012 @ 12:55 pm
You’re totally right Robert, it’s really all about low body fat percentages. I’d say around 10% and below is when the exercises would make a noticeable difference. Of course, the lower you go the more noticeable the differences will be. Also, it depends on where you store most of your fat. Most of us guys store our stubborn body fat on our abs and obliques but there or some other guys who are a bit more fortunate and their body fat is more evenly distributed.
Clint - Crude Fitness
March 25, 2012 @ 2:20 pm
Hanging leg raises (side,front,side) variations are also great for obliques.
As are high-to-low cable ‘chopping’ movements etc.
So many great exercises, so little time 🙂
Niko
March 25, 2012 @ 9:19 pm
Kevin,
Great post on how to achieve awesome obliques. For me it’s not only about being able to see my obliques, but also how much having a strong core improves my athletic performance. For years I had a weak core and performed average in the gym on on the football field. Over the last few years I have worked on strengthening my core and as a result my overall strength and explosive power on the football field has improved dramatically. For those wondering, football to me is Rugby League, it’s kind of like NFL without all the pads and helmets.
Niko
Jesse
September 27, 2012 @ 6:38 pm
I think the smaller obliques look stupid. the ones on the left are much better
Jamal
July 2, 2013 @ 8:39 pm
I have a very narrow waist, and I am wondering what or which exercise would you recommend for me to increase my waist measurements without adding fat?