1. A Less Oblique Look at Abs
Most people who pound away at their abs with straight crunches or situ-ps wonder why they're not getting the toned, ripped look they want. Part of the answer to the question is that they're neglecting their oblique muscles, which are one of the most important muscle groups in the abdomen. The obliques not only have a critical function in keeping your body upright and in regular motion, but they also create that chiseled look that's hard to achieve without oblique work.
2. Twist to Flex
The best way to target the obliques is to isolate them with a twisting, ab flexion movement. You can do this by simply adding a twist at the top of each rep of crunches by bringing your right elbow up towards your left knee, and then the opposite on the following rep. For a more specific oblique workout, sit on the ground with your feet together off the floor and your torso at a 45-degree angle to the ground. Clasp your hands together and then twist from one side to the other, touching each hip in sequence.
3. Add Weight, Intensity and Muscle
If you really want to improve your obliques and "bring them out," as trainers say, you need to add weight. The simplest way to do this is to hold something heavy as you do your sitting oblique twists. A medicine ball ab workout is the easiest, but a dumbbell is also a fine way to integrate weight and intensity into the motion. If you do use a medicine ball, step up the intensity by slamming the ball on the ground and then catching it on each side. If this is too intense, slam the ball on the ground once every other or every three twists.
4. When in Rome
Almost every trainer or fitness enthusiast will tell you that the way to work muscles in the stomach such as the obliques is to flex them, as you do with crunches and sit-ups. However, you can use a basic piece of equipment called the Roman Chair (which is available at almost all gyms) to work the obliques through extension. Set up in the chair and dip back to extend your torso toward the ground. Instead of coming straight up, as you do with normal Roman Chair sets, come up to the side as if you're trying to bring one elbow to the opposite knee. Do sets of very low reps at first, since this oblique exercise is a killer.
5. Debunking the Ab Myth
Check out any gym or fitness club and you'll see people doing hundreds of reps and dozens of sets of ab exercises to get their abs in perfect shape. There are two myths at work here, and both apply to the obliques. The first is that doing lots of reps will burn fat away and reveal your stomach muscles. This isn't true, since exercise doesn't really burn fat locally. The second myth is that you should work the stomach muscles every day. When, in fact, the ab muscles are like any other muscle and they need time for muscle recovery before the next workout.
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