Top Fitness Coach Shares 10 Best Exercises to Target the Obliques

If you are looking for that shredded physique, meaning a six-pack, you should not focus solely on the rectus abdominis. Here are the 10 best exercises to target the obliques that you should incorporate into your training routine according to Jeff Cavaliere.

Cavaliere was the head physical therapist of the New York Mets for 3 years and is now a YouTube sensation. He delivers clear information without noise on his ATHLEAN-X YouTube channel.

The obliques produce and control rotation, and are responsible for side bending and flexion of the trunk depending on the movement being used to elicit their contraction.

So naturally, the best exercises to target the obliques should focus on doing those movements. Check them out.

10 Best Exercises to Target the Obliques

1. Side Crunch

Simple and effective. Just make sure you are not shortening the range of motion as doing so would limit the activation of your obliques.

2. Side Bridge

The side bridge trains your oblique as a dynamic stabiliser.

3. Elbow to Knee Crunches

The knee drive of the movement helps to posteriorly rotate the pelvis and intensify the contraction of the obliques on every rep. Go slow to train harder.

4. Broomstick Twists

Don’t perform this exercise in the high-rep range to get the real benefits of this oblique exercise.

5. Physioball Plate Twists

For this exercise, don’t just roll around on top of the physioball, but rather do it with control. Allow the weight to drop and feel it becoming more challenging as it goes further away from you while you twist your spine.

6. Anti-Rotation Pressouts

Use a cable machine to twist your body to one side and use your obliques to twist it back. This is one of the best exercises to target the obliques because you can simply add more weight to the cable machine to produce more direct force on your obliques.

7. Corkscrew Twists

For this one, it doesn’t matter how high your legs go, but rather focus on initiating the movement utilising your obliques only.

8. Banded Elbow Thrusts

With a band around your elbow, step away from the high place where the banded is fixated, and allow your body to be pulled back towards the side of the band. This will force a range of motion with some rotation in the trunk.

9. Banded Cauldrons

This exercise utilises a magnitude of lateral stability and control needed. Work both sides.

10. Landmine Wipers

Do the landmine wiper controlling the tempo, but make sure you plant your feet and don’t rotate your feet, but rather just the top of the body.

Those are the 10 best exercises to target the obliques according to Jeff Cavaliere. If you want to know what they look like, check out the full video with the explanation from Cavaliere himself below.