Your obliques are part of the abdominal region that works with other muscles in your abs, back, shoulders and hip to move your body in different directions, primarily in rotation patterns. Coach Vern Gambetta, author of "Athletic Development," recommends that you tone and strengthen your abs by incorporating full-body movements rather than isolating your abs to improve movement patterns and performance. This will also help you reduce your risk of injury and coordination in your body.
Functions
Your obliques are made up of the external and internal oblique muscles that run in diagonal patterns from the middle of your abs and out to your sides. Besides rotating your torso, they assist your diaphragm and other breathing muscles to expand and contract your abdomen when you breathe and stabilize your torso when you move, explains Gambetta. In high-impact sports, such as those that involve sprinting, tumbling and jumping, your abs absorb shock like a spring to reduce the risk of injuring your spine and internal organs.
Kneeling Cable Chop and Lift
The chop and lift exercises work all muscles and tissues in your abdomen and improve hip stability. The chop is moving your hands down and across your torso with resistance while the lift is moving your hands up and across your torso with resistance. Physical therapist Gray Cook, author of "Athletic Body in Balance," recommends that you perform these two exercises as a foundation to improve abdominal stability and strength. When you do these exercises, see if one side of your body is more coordinated or stronger than the other side. If one side is weaker, perform an extra set on the weaker side.
Cook recommends that you use a cable column machine of these exercises. To do the chop, set the height of the handle to the highest level, grab it with both hands, and kneel on your right knee with the left side of your body facing the handle. Your torso should be upright as you pull the handle down and across your body toward your right hip. Do not move your torso or lower body as you chop. Then gradually return to the starting position. For the lift, set the height of the handle to the lower handle, switch leg position and pull handle up and across your body toward your head. Do not move your body as you lift.
Standing Medicine Ball Swing
Performing the swinging movement in a standing position provides a less stable support for your body, which requires you to increase your stabilization strength in your abs and hip to maintain your balance. Like the chop and lift exercises, you keep your body in place as you swing the ball from one shoulder to your opposite hip, but you may rotate your shoulder girdle as you move. Stand with your left foot in front of you and hold a medicine ball over your left shoulder. Swing it down toward your right hip and bring it back up over your shoulder.
Expert Insight
You can increase caloric expenditure by performing all three exercises consecutively with no rest between exercises, suggests Gambetta. This will also save you time in your workouts and improve muscular endurance. For example, perform each exercise for 30 seconds with no rest. At the end of the third exercise, rest for no more than one minute, and repeat the circuit two to three more times. You may also add other exercises to the workout to tone your body, such as jump roping, pushups and pullups.
Misconceptions
Doing abdominal exercises do not decrease body fat in your abdomen because the fat-burning process occurs throughout your body, never in one specific areas, says the National Academy of Sports Medicine. In fact, doing situps, crunches and similar exercises will increase the abdominal muscles' size, making your waistline bigger.
References
- "NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training"; Michael Clark; 2007
- "Athletic Development"; Vern Gambetta; 2006
- "Athletic Body in Balance"; Gray Cook; 2003
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