Frame Your Abs with Ripped Obliques - Muscle & Fitness (2024)

FAQs

Do obliques make your abs look better? ›

Ripped obliques frame the abs and complete the entire area. And, no, training obliques will not make them too big — it will make them more defined as long as your bodyfat is low. One of the best ways to build impressive notches along the sides of your midsection is to do standing cable oblique crunches (not pictured).

How to Do It: Get into a side plank position, with your outside foot up on the bench. Squeeze your upper abs, hips, and obliques to keep your hips up and your spine straight.

But if there's one part of your core that could probably use a little more attention, it's your obliques (aka your side abs). The obliques aid in breathing, rotating/bending your torso and creating intra-abdominal pressure while you hold your breath.

The V Taper vs Training Obliques

It is thought that training the obliques with weighted exercises creates a hypertrophic effect which thickens the waist, however there are exercises which promote strength through the obliques without triggering hypertrophy to a point where your obliques ruin your V - taper.

It's not the oblique muscles that are making your waist look “thick”. It's the body fat (love handles) laying over the top of them that does that! When you lose the body fat, those same obliques are going to actually make your waistline look thinner because their natural tapering orientation visually helps the cause.

If visible abs are the goal, the answer is YES… with proper nutrition, exercise and discipline, anyone should be able to get some amount of visible abs, even if it's just the top two or four of the six pack. Typically, as body fat decreases, the uppermost abs are the ones that reveal themselves first.

Some of the most effective ab workouts are the plank, mountain climbers, roll up, and bicycles.

Planks don't just work your core — they do so much more. They work plenty of muscles, including your: rectus abdominis. obliques.

Should you do abs exercises every day? There's really no need for doing daily ab workouts, according to Feliciano. The most important thing to remember about working your abs is that they should be treated like other muscles in the body.

Which part of abs is hardest to get? ›

Not only are lower abs tricky to target, they're even harder to show off. Your body is predisposed to storing excess fat in that area – from an evolutionary standpoint, belly fat is part of your body's energy stockpiling system – so making those muscles pop takes serious dedication (and mostly comes down to your diet).

The “number 11” ab is created by the muscles along the waist line creating two parallel lines. The abdominal muscles are toned just like the men, but much more slim and attractive. To sharpen the “number 11” lines, the girls need to have a regular training schedule.

10 to 14 percent

But it's also considered healthier and easier to obtain than the 5 to 9 percent range. Certified personal trainer Steve Washuta says upper abdominal definition and some external obliques can still be seen, but the definition is minimal and the lower half of the abdominals are typically not defined.

Start on the ground in v-sit position with hands on the ground out to the side and slightly behind you. Pull your knees in towards your chest, sliding your body from one cheek to the other in order to position yourself to create a nice, strong contraction in the obliques.