I first learnt what the word ‘oblique’ meant when I was six years old.
As the classic Australiana meme goes, I always seemed to wake up half an hour early for Cheez TV and was greeted with the bubbly instructors of Aerobics Oz Style.
June Jones and her facsimile minions clapped and bounced along, encouraging millions of early rising women and chipper school kids like me to “feel the burn in the upper thighs” and get ready to “work their obliques.”
The obliques are a group of muscles on the side of your upper body that help turn your body from side to side without getting your spine twisted.
You’ve got internal obliques that sit near your hips, and external obliques that are around the start of your ribcage, like so:
And in short, the more toned these bad boys get, the tighter your waistline will be. The benefits aren’t just superficial – stronger obliques result in a more balanced body, so everyday activities that require one-sided upper-body strength (like picking up heavy shopping bags) are a cinch.
Here’s our pick of the top four oblique burning exercises to get you lookin like a svelte operator in no time. (You want to aim to do the following for three sets of ten reps with little, stretchy, 1 minute breaks in between.)
WINDSHIELD WIPERS
Grab yourself a stability ball and lower your back down onto the floor – you’re about to look truly silly.
It’s worth it though. As the grainy vid above demonstrates, this one is all about keeping your core still and engaged while moving the ball from one side to another. Your obliques will be put to the test, as they keep the movement of your legs steady and controlled.
SIDE PLANK (WITH VARIATION)
The OG and one of the best. The beauty of the side plank is that you can do it literally anywhere, anytime. There are plenty of iterations of the move, too.
It’s pretty self explanatory, but lay on one side, and place your hand on the floor, directly underneath your shoulder (you can do this on your forearm if you’d prefer) and hoist yourself up into a straight line. You can stay here, keeping your core feeling tight and staying balanced – it’s harder than it looks.
To elevate the burn, you can bend and lift your top leg in the direction of your top arm, as demonstrated in the above gif.
If you really wanna get those obliques fired up you and go full HAM mode and thread your upper arm through the empty triangular space beneath your rig:
The longer you stay in the pose, the better – aim for 30 seconds if you’re a beginner and 60 or 90 seconds each go for more seasoned vets.
MEDICINE BALL OBLIQUE TOSS
When the exercise has the target area in the name, you know it gotta be good.
This one is great for newbies through to full gymrats as you can choose how heavy the med ball is.
To smash it and stay injury-free, stand a metre and a half away from a wall with your shoulder facing that wall. Holding a medicine ball, twist your torso powerfully and throw it against the wall. Catch it when it comes back to you, and repeat. Three sets of ten reps and you’re on the way to obliques o’ steel.
PLATE TWIST
Last but not least, we meet on the floor yet again to cap off the ob circuit.
Like the Medicine Ball Oblique Toss, the Plate Twist incorporates weight which makes it the perfect exercise for all levels.
You want to be sitting, balancing just above your butt. In this position, you should feel your core engaged. Lift your legs off the ground and place one foot over the other. You might be temped to hunch your back, but you gotta keep your back neutral and straight, otherwise you ain’t working the obliques and abs!
Grab yourself a plate weight (or a medicine ball if need be) and twist from one side to the other.
And that’s how you do it, bliquers.
u in a jiffy
Photo: Fight Club.
