We offer you really effective and safe exercises for oblique abdominal muscles!

Variations of one-armed lunges are not the best exercises for oblique abdominals! But they're not the worst either, although they're pretty close!

Improper technique, lack of abdominal tension, and the single arm pulling you into too much of a bend can be a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, there are far better exercises. See below for examples.

Mid-body exercises: the world's dumbest

Many people think that single-arm lunges carve out their oblique abdominals, but in reality they may just be putting themselves at unnecessary risk. They're usually done with one one-handed grip, but you've probably seen someone in the gym doing them with even two.

This is, of course, ridiculous and unnecessary. The exercise is much better with one single arm.

The problem is that people often perform the exercise incorrectly, which leads to a loss of tension in the center of the body. The single arm can also pull you into too much range of motion, where the oblique abdominal muscles lose tension.

And this tension not only exercises the muscles, but also helps with spinal support (the whole mid-body helps to do this).

Of course, you will feel a few sets of lunges the next day in your obliques because you have put a load on them and overstretched them. But long term, this exercise is an unnecessary injury risk, so it's not worth bothering with it at all.

The solution? Use a pulley!

This will change the point where the weight will put maximum resistance. You can control the pulley that is perpendicular to your body and stay in an active range of motion, thus getting more out of a lighter load.

Additionally, the pulley pulls you towards it, so the hip stabilizers must work. Overall, it's a more complex exercise.

In the video above, I'm working on the bottom pulley, but you can set it up differently to load other parts of the exercise. On the bottom pulley, for example, the maximum load is reached when you almost completely bend to the opposite side.

On the high pulley, the load would be maximum somewhere near the upright position and would gradually decrease as you bend to the side.

By moving the pulley, you can vary the emphasis and feel of the exercise. Try experimenting with what pulley setup works best for you.

More effective options

Dave Tate's lunges will appeal to you if you like to stroke your ego with a loaded weight. However, this isn't about flaunting mini reps on the leg press. Once you overdrive the pulley and get it into the starting position, the weight and high tension will create an unmistakable sensation in your midsection. Imagine being squeezed between two panes of glass and having to lean only sideways, never forward. Lateral flexion must be isolated as much as possible.

If you want to spice up your bows, Nick Tumminello will make it happen. This mechanical crash series will put maximum load on your oblique abdominals at three points of hip flexion. Perform 7-10 reps in each position. Remember, this video is sped up twice, so don't go crazy with the tempo or tension.

If you don't have the equipment, there are still effective options. One of my favorites is the lateral plank position lifts. It's basically just a plank sideways, but you lower and raise your hip. As with the lunges, you'll be loading your spinal flexion and hip abduction, but in a slightly different way.

This can also be practiced with the elbow on a box or bench, increasing the range of motion. If you want more weight, hold a discus on your hip or try hanging some chains on yourself.

To work

Two one-arm bows are stupid. Period. The single-handed version offers quite a few advantages for how dangerous it is. Variations on the pulley and in the plank position will give you better results and no risk! In general, I recommend starting with 2-3 sets and 12-15 concentrated reps per side.

Source: www.t-nation.com - The Best Core Exercises for Obliques
Author: Gareth Sapstead
translated by Jaromír Uhlíř