Improve health, fitness, performance w/ oblique ab exercises
The following page discusses the benefits of oblique exercises, offers tips for the best abdominal exercises & cautions. What are the “obliques?”
Your abdominals consist of four muscles. Most people are used to hearing them simply called "abs". The abs include the Rectus abdominis, the Transversus abdominis, and a pair of muscles called the obliques.
The oblique muscles actually include the following pair of muscles on each of your sides:
* The external obliques form the top muscle.
* The internal obliques lie underneath the external obliques.
Benefits of oblique exercises
* Your oblique muscles (side abdominals) help you bend from the side or twist your torso.
* Strong obliques support the lower back, warding off back pain and posture problems.
* Improved posture, thanks to strong obliques.
* Oblique ab exercises helps slim your waist.
* Strong, conditioned obliques help transfer force or power from one body part to another or body to an external object. Great for sports.
* Conditioned obliques help balance your body. Well developed muscles above & below the abs must be balanced by the strong connecting muscles of the abs, including the obliques.
* The best abdominal exercises, including oblique movements, are thought to condition the internal organs making them more efficient. The internals include the colon & liver.
Oblique ab exercises
Several popular exercise systems include ab exercises, specifically exercises for the obliques. Three good ones:
* Yoga
* Pilates
* Balance ball exercises
If doing calisthenics for the oblique muscles, start low, progress gradually. Luckily, you can probably do ab - oblique exercises on consecutive days if you have the time, energy & desire.
Do ab exercises, like most other exercises on an empty stomach.
Several abdominal movements can easily be adapted to focus on the obliques. Simply tilt the moving body part a few degrees to the side to highlight the oblique in question.
Example: Doing a bent knee sit-up or crunch, touch right elbow or shoulder to left knee to work the left obliques. Switch sides.
Example: Doing lying leg lifts, rotate legs 20 - 40 degrees on either side, the opposite side obliques get worked. Switch sides.
Example: Do leg lifts on your side to hit that side’s oblique muscles.
If your goal is beautiful, prominent obliques, remember that you must shed the fat on top of your abs & obliques or else no amount of exercise will help obliques show through.
Cautions when doing oblique exercises
* Since targeting your oblique muscles requires a slight twist of the torso you need to perform movements smoothly to prevent injury to your spine or neck..
* Perform oblique ab exercises slowly.
* If movement is too difficult do ½ or ¾ movement until you can do the full movement.
* Again, you can do ab exercises several times weekly but you should take off a day or two if your abdominals feel very sore.
