How to Build the Obliques

Co-authored by Alphonso White

Last Updated: February 26, 2023

The obliques are the muscles found at the sides of the tummy. A toned oblique gives the classic V-shaped torso. If you are hoping to shape your obliques, begin with basic exercises and work up to more intense exercises. You should also consider your diet when toning your obliques.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Performing Basic Oblique Exercises

1
Understand why exercises will help. Regular exercise increases the number of myofibrils (muscle fibers) in each cell; this accounts for 20 to 30 percent of muscle growth, Exercises that involve pulling, pushing and lifting the muscles stimulate muscle growth and efficiency.
- There are several basic exercises that will train the obliques in isolation (meaning they won’t shape other muscles). You must practice these basic exercises before trying harder ones so that you do not injure yourself in the process of toning your muscles.
2
Do side planks. Side planks train the obliques’ natural athletic function which is to resist sudden twisting movements. This exercise provides important foundation for development of the obliques. To do this exercise:
- Lie on your right side on a gym mat or soft surface. Lift your body off the mat with only the right forearm and outer side of the right foot in contact with the ground. The right elbow should be directly under the right shoulder. Keep the body erect by drawing the shoulder blades downward and backward and squeezing the butt muscles together. The hips should not drop at any point of the exercise.
- Hold this position for 15 seconds. Continue breathing in a relaxed manner. Keep the body in a straight line at all times.
- Do 3 sets of 15 second hold with 15 second rest in between.
- There are many variations to the standard side plank, if you're not able to perform it at the time. For instance, try doing a bent leg side plank to target your obliques.
- If you're feeling good about your side planks, try holding a dumbbell with one hand and leaning towards it to stretch the opposite oblique.
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3
Practice side crunches. Side crunches target the obliques and abdominal musculature. The angled approach yields good results when training oblique muscles. To do this exercise:
- Lie on your back with knees bent and hands placed at the back of the head. Aim to touch your right knee with your left elbow by lifting your upper back up and sideways from the ground. A common mistake for beginners is crunching the neck instead of the abdominal section. Fix this problem by touching the roof of the mouth with your tongue. This tenses the muscles around the neck and prevents misalignment of the cervical spine.
- There should be some burn felt in the left oblique area but there should never be an incidence of pain throughout the exercise.
- Return to the starting position. Do a side crunch towards the other side. This time try to touch the left knee with your right elbow. This counts as 1 repetition. Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions with 1 minute rests in between.
- Make sure that all of your side crunches are slow and controlled, and that you're focused on rotating through your torso.
4
Try side bends. Side bends are ideal for adding muscle tone to the obliques after doing side crunches. To do this exercise:
- Hold a dumbbell at each side. Stand tall with the feet hip-width apart. Draw your shoulder blades back and down. Clench your butt muscles together. Suck in your gut as if you are about to be punched. Make a double chin and look straight. This position should be maintained to ensure effectiveness of the workout.
- Lower the dumbbell by bending sideways to the right. Bend as the body permits. Do not bend to the point of pain. The dumbbells should be kept as close to the body as possible.
- Return to the starting position. Repeat 15 times. Bend sideways to the left for 10 repetitions. 3 sets of 10 repetitions with 30 seconds of rest in between are ideal.
5
Practice killer twists. First, you must get into the proper starting position. Get a medicine ball and stand with your legs apart; they should be wider than the width of your shoulders. Face your body towards one side and hold the medicine ball over your head.
- Lower the weight and turn your body towards the other side. Bend at your knees and crouch down towards the floor. Keep a controlled and balanced movement.
- Move back to the starting position slowly. Repeat the exercise 15 times. Do 2 sets on each side alternately.
6
Practice dumbbell side dips. To do this exercise, hold a dumbbell in each hand. Stand up straight with your legs apart so that they are spread to shoulder width. Bend your body while lowering the weight close to the floor as far as tolerable.
- Slowly stand up. Do the same procedure on the other side of the body. Repeat the whole exercise.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Performing Advanced Oblique Exercises

1
Move to more advanced exercises. Progression to advanced exercises is a must after consistent basic oblique training for 8 weeks. The advanced exercises incorporate movement patterns while training the obliques; therefore, every strand of the obliques’ fibers gets activated with each movement.^{[5]
X
Research source
Phipps, Cassmeyer, Sands, Lehman (1995) Medical Surgical Nursing 5th Edition}
2
Give wood choppers a try. Wood choppers mimic the activity that puts all of the oblique fibers to work: wood chopping. The obliques have to not only work hard but also transmit forces from the lower body to the upper body with each movement. To do this exercise:
- Hold the handle of the dumbbell with both hands. Stand tall with feet hip-width apart. Draw the shoulder blades down and back. Keep the butt squeezed together.
- Raise the dumbbell above the left shoulder. This stretches the oblique muscles to ensure all the muscle fibers are engaged.
- Lower the dumbbell across your body and to the outer part of your right ankle by squatting. Push your hips back and butt out as you do this. The arch of the back should not round out. If muscle inflexibility limits the movement, bring the dumbbell to the outside of the right knee.
- Reverse the movement. This counts as a repetition. Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions with 60 seconds rest between sets. Repeat the exercise on the other side.
3
Try a One-arm Dumbbell Row with Twist. One-arm dumbbell rows with twist accentuate the v-shaped torso appearance by working the back muscles and obliques simultaneously. The end result is a wide back and a slim waist that magnifies the work you put into developing the obliques.
- Hold a dumbbell with your left hand. A single arm row challenges the oblique muscles more than a double arm row. Your muscles activate to maintain good posture with the presence of an uneven weight between the left and right side of the body.
- Bend at your hips with the knees slightly bent. Push your hips back as if you are trying to close a door behind you with your butt. Draw your shoulder blades back and downward. Maintain the natural arch of your lower back at all times.
- Raise the dumbbell toward your rib cage and twist your upper body to the left simultaneously. The tip of the left elbow should ideally go past your back to squeeze the back muscles maximally. The twist amplifies the left oblique muscle workload.
- Return to the starting position. That counts as a repetition. Do 3 sets of 10 reps with 60 second breaks. Repeat the exercise with the right hand.
4
Practice the bicycle crunch. The simultaneous kicking and twisting motions of the bicycle crunch challenge the oblique muscles like no other crunch can. To do this exercise:
- Lie down on a mat with knees bent and hands behind the head. Press your lower back against the ground. Tighten the abdominal muscles while maintaining a relaxed breathing pattern.
- Raise both legs by straightening the right leg and drawing the bent left leg towards the torso. Simultaneously do a side crunch to the left with the aim of touching left knee with the right elbow. Exhale with every elbow to knee motion to prevent excessive rise in blood pressure. Pain should not be a part of the exercise.
- Immediately reverse the movement. Straighten the left leg and bend the right leg. Do a crunch to the right with the aim of touching the right knee with left elbow. This counts as a repetition. Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions with 45 second rests in between.
5
Try weighted oblique static holds. To do this exercise, lie down on one side of the body, keeping the back straight. Then, slowly crunch the legs towards the torso. Squeeze the oblique muscles as hard as you can. When you squeeze as hard as you can, hold the position for 45 minutes.
- Repeat the procedure on the other side of the body.
- Once you can do this easily, add a light dumbbell (five pounds) between your feet.
6
Try a side plank with a knee pull. Start by supporting your body with one arm. The other arm is raised straight up in the air (the obliques are stretched out and isolated). Sway the feet until the top foot is in front of the bottom foot. Bring the bottom foot as far as possible into the chest area. The body is kept straight.
- Hold the position where the knee is in the chest for 1 second and then repeat the movement. Perform 15 reps per side or as many as the body permits.
7
Practice declined Russian twists. Look for a bench and set it to 45 degrees decline. Maintaining a good posture, lean back and tighten the core and oblique muscles. Then, extend the arms straight out in front slowly turn back and forth from left to right.
- Hold the position for 0.5 seconds when full extension to the right and left is achieved. As the exercise becomes easy, hold a weight plate or medicine ball to add to the difficulty and extend it to chest height.
8
Practice speed rotation. Hold a dumbbell in front of the mid section with both hands. Twist to the right at 90 degrees and then to the left at 180 degrees. Maintain tight abs and move fast.
- Do 20 complete twists.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Building the Oblique Muscles through Diet

1
Up your intake of protein powder. Protein is a nutrient that helps sustain muscle mass. Protein powder is derived from natural food products such as milk (whey and casein) and eggs. It takes the body an approximate of 2 hours to digest whey proteins, within 4 hours for egg white proteins and roughly 7 hours for casein proteins.^{[6]
X
Research source
Phipps, Cassmeyer, Sands, Lehman (1995) Medical Surgical Nursing 5th Edition}
- Casein protein powders are suggested to be taken before going to bed because it is digested by the body in a slow pace. And the whey protein powders which are absorbed by the body faster are recommended to be taken in the morning and right after work out or exercise.
- The recommended intake of protein is at least 1 gram for each pound of the body weight.
2
Try using creatine. It is naturally produced in the muscles that are responsible for the supply of energy during exercise. Meat and fish are foods that contain creatine (about 5g per kg). However, these foods don’t provide enough amount of creatine so creatine supplementation can be considered. Creatine supplementation is beneficial most especially to body builders. The effects are:
- It allows the muscles to absorb extra water that makes it bigger and harder. It can increase the total body weight up to 3%.
- It increases energy supplied in the muscles during exercises which permits performance of additional reps with the same body weight.
- It helps the body to become stronger thus; the ability to lift heavy weights is increased.
- A more solid pump in the muscles will be experienced during workouts.
- It increases joints stability that decreases vulnerability to injuries.
3
Understand that stopping creatinine intake may cause side effects. Stopping the use of creatine supplementation can eliminate the benefits of taking it after couple of weeks. It can cause:
- Digestive system upsets leading to diarrhea and insufficient absorption of the supplement in the body.
- Kidney and liver problems when in long term use of large doses of creatine supplementation.
- Discomforts during exercises or physical labor because of the pumping in the muscles.
4
Take carbohydrate powders. Glycogen stored in the muscles and the liver is the principal source of energy during an extreme workout. The first 2 hours after a workout is suggested to be the best time to refuel a used glycogen supply, it involves food products with fast absorbing carbohydrates are easily digested by the body. After an exhausting workout, food products with slow absorbing carbohydrates are preferred to be consumed for the rest of the day. It ensures balance energy supply in the body.
5
Avoid sweets, refined carbohydrates, and sugary drinks. White bread, rice, cakes, chocolates, and sweet drinks prompt the release of insulin by the body. Insulin is a hormone that facilitates storage of glucose and fat in the body; hence, weight gain sets in.
6
Eat breakfast. People who eat breakfast make sensible choices throughout the day because they do not feel the need to reward themselves after starving for hours.
7
Add some protein to every meal and snack. Protein keeps you full and raises the metabolism. Make it a habit to consume protein about the size of your fist during meals. Do not take protein beyond the recommended serving as it is also high in fat and taxes the kidneys.
- Consume protein during snacks. Always keep a handful of nuts, a cup of Greek yogurt, or a string of cheese in handy to avoid consuming sugary snacks.
8
Eat smaller, frequent meals. Smaller and frequent meals constantly raise the metabolism and prevent storage of fat as energy reservoir. Eat 3 large meals and 3 snacks spaced out between 3 hours to enhance fat loss.
9
Drink water. Water keeps you full and more importantly maintains blood flow to the body, especially the brain. Hydration keeps mental functioning optimal and saves you from giving in to sweet temptations.
10
Take a break from sensible eating once in a while. The goal is to establish sensible eating habits 80% of the time and not deprive you of your favorite food. You can opt to have either:
- 6 days of total sensible eating and 1 full cheat day weekly
- 5 meals of sensible choices and 1 cheat snack daily
- Trying to maintain a 100% sensible diet is impossible to maintain and burn you and your taste buds out. The brain sends craving impulses once in a while that you have to give in to.