Should i work my obliques

To target your obliques directly, choose 2—3 of these exercises and add them to your workout twice a week. Aim for 3 sets of 10—12 reps of each exercise. This move targets your abs and will also test your balance. Planks — everyone loves to hate them! Whether on your knees or your feet, this move not only targets your side abs, but your upper body and one of the muscles in your booty called the gluteus medius, an important stabilizer for your pelvis.

Often done as a form of cardio, mountain climbers target the core — namely the obliques — as well. This twisting ab move will have your obliques on fire. If you have trouble keeping your lower back flush to the ground, place your feet on the ground instead of extending your legs. Add some leg work into your side crunches with this move. The focus is on the obliques here though, so if your legs fatigue, come out of the squat a bit. Take your side crunches standing with standing knee tuck extensions.

Really reach that elbow to knee, while focusing on the side bend, to get the most crunch for your buck. When you add a rotation to an exercise, you can count on your obliques firing. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat to the floor.

Place your hands behind your head, engage your core and do a full sit-up. At the top of the sit-up, bring your right elbow to your left knee and twist your body toward that side. Lower back down to start. Repeat this movement alternating sides each time. Sit up with your legs out in front of you, knees bent and your heels on the floor, your back at a degree angle to the floor.

Hold a medicine ball or dumbbell try 8 to 10 pounds with both hands by your stomach. Keep your back straight and medicine ball in close to your torso as you twist to the right and left. Start in a high plank, arms extended and your hands under your shoulders, with your core engaged. Bring your left knee to your left elbow.

Use your upper body to turn toward your knee to perform what looks like a side crunch. Continue the movement, alternating sides. Start in a high plank with your core engaged. Don't forget to squeeze your butt the entire time. Bring your left knee underneath your body toward your right elbow by twisting your torso slightly. Think of it as a slow side-to-side mountain climber. Repeat the movement alternating sides. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in both hands.

Hold the weight by both ends with arms extended in front of your left leg, knees bent slightly. Rotate slightly off your left foot as you twist your body and swing the weight across your body up and to the right, keeping your arms straight the entire time. Bring the weight back to starting position. You can still do exercises that target the obliques, but ditch the added resistance and stick to higher volume more reps that don't add mass. If you regularly do compound movements like lunges, squats, and deadlifts, you're most of the way there.

These exercises involve a good deal of core engagement and stabilization, so you're getting a good ab workout without doing any ab-specific exercises. But if you want to get your abs in shape for summer, consider doing one or two of these ab exercises a couple of times per week. There's absolutely no reason you need to have a full "core day. Melissa Edmonds is the founder of ProShape Fitness, a healthy-living company that specializes in online fitness and nutrition coaching for people who want to get in the best shape of View all articles by this author.

Access our entire library of more than 90 fitness programs. Strong obliques are important for a strong and balanced core. Balance your strength training with cardio to burn fat so that the obliques and abdominal muscles are visible. If you want to avoid a wider waistline from training obliques, it is important to understand how you build muscle mass.

Understand that based on genetic factors, some individuals gain muscle mass more easily than others, according to the American Council on Exercise. Hormones also play a role. People with less testosterone generally do not develop as much muscle mass.

The way you exercise also plays a role in how much muscle you gain. To gain muscle, you generally want to exercise with a heavy weight and do three to four sets of eight to 10 repetitions, advises the American Council on Exercise. Exercising with less resistance and higher repetitions will increase your muscular endurance. Although building muscle in your obliques may cause your waist to widen slightly, it can also result in toned abs.