Oblique Exercises

If there's one thing that most people want with their workout program, six pack abs are it.  When attacking this goal it's important that you make sure to add a variety of different oblique exercises into your upper body workout because these are going to be best for working the core muscles and helping give you that cut look at the sides of the body.

When you can combine the following oblique exercises with a proper diet program, you're going to get the best all around results from your program.  You must always remember though that no matter how big you build up your ab muscles, you won't be able to achieve six pack abs unless you maintain low enough levels of body fat that the muscles are visible.

One big mistake people make with their upper body workout program is that they'll spend hours doing various ab exercises but never pay attention to actually reducing their body fat through a combination of dieting and proper workout sessions.  Ab exercises definitely are vital to helping strengthen the core muscles and form good muscle shape but after that, you must get lean enough otherwise six pack abs will never be visible.

Let's now take a look at the top oblique exercises to add to your program to help you achieve the results you're after.

Medicine Ball Twists

One of the most effective movements for getting six pack abs is the medicine ball twists.  Since this movement is going to have your muscles working against a high level of resistance, it ups the intensity of the exercise that much further.

To perform medicine ball twists you're simply going to get into a sitting position where you're on your bum and your knees are slightly bent, feet planted firmly into the floor.

From there, holding a medicine ball in front of you in your hands, rotate the body to one side, pause, and then rotate it to the other.

Note that as you do this the farther back you can lean the body, the more tension you'll place on the ab muscles and the greater the results you will see.   Also watch as you do this though that you keep the same level of lean back throughout the exercise rather than constantly coming up into the full sit position at various portions of it.

This ensures that the muscle get worked evenly and will help to prevent muscle imbalances or lower back pain from developing.

Russian Twist On An Exercise Ball

Second, the next of the oblique exercises to add to your six pack abs workout is a Russian twists on an exercise ball.  This one also can be done holding a dumbbell or medicine ball in the hands in order to add more resistance and up the intensity of the movement.

What you're going to do for this movement is get into a position where the middle of the back is resting on top of the exercise ball with the legs out in front of you, the knees bent at 90 degrees supporting the body and maintaining your balance.

The arms in this position should be directly up in front of the body pointing towards the ceiling, hands grasped together (or holding the medicine ball you're using).

From there, lean the body towards the sides, bringing the arms down to parallel as best as you possibly can without losing balance.

Once you're as far down as you can go, bring them back up towards the ceiling again and then repeat to the other side to complete the second rep.

Continue on in this fashion alternating sides until you've finished all the reps in that set.

Lying Leg Raises

Moving on, the third of our oblique exercises that are great for targeting the core muscles and for helping to prevent lower back pain are lying leg raises.  This can be done without a weight or using an exercise ball in between the legs for added difficulty.

What you'll want to do is get into position on the floor with the back pressed into the ground and the legs extended down beneath you.  From there, slowly raise the legs upwards keeping the knees as straight as possible while thinking of pressing the lower back into the floor.

Bring the legs up so that they are at a 90 degree angle with the rest of the body and then slowly lower them back down again to compete the rep.  Note that you never want to let the legs drop downwards but rather lower them in a nice and controlled manner which is going to help ensure that you maintain constant tension on the oblique muscles.

Side Bends

Finally, the last of the oblique exercises that you should add to your six pack abs workout are side bends.  Again, you can do these without any weight if you're new to the workout or holding a medicine ball if you're looking for a challenge.

To perform them stand with the legs slightly wider than shoulder width apart with the arms either at your sides or over top of the head, holding the weight if desired.

From there, slowly move the body to one side keeping the knees and arms straight until you've reached as far as you can go with that side bent.  Watch while doing this that you are moving directly out to the side however and are not moving backwards at all which would place too much stress on back and could lead to lower back pain.

Once you've finished leaning to the one side, switch sides and repeat.

So there you have the top oblique exercises that you can do as part of your upper body workout to help you get six pack abs.  Using tools such as a medicine ball and an exercise ball you can enhance the degree of tension placed on these core muscles and move you that much closer to your goal.