For a week, I performed 50 oblique crunches daily. This is what happened to my abs......
Fitness gurus now appear to be following a new fad that entails entirely disregarding your oblique muscles. Your obliques are the muscles that run down the side of your stomach, for those of you who dozed off during biology class in high school. Your internal and external oblique muscles cooperate to move your core, spine, and trunk.
In order for me to run both powerfully and swiftly, having a strong core is crucial. Your oblique muscles, which connect your upper and lower bodies as you move, determine how your upper body and torso rotate while you're jogging. In light of this, I started a seven-day regimen of doing 50 oblique crunches on each side to strengthen my obliques. Continue reading to learn what happened.
A friendly reminder that 100 repetitions of any workout is a lot, and that what is effective for me and my body may not be effective for you. Before increasing the amount of repetitions you do on an activity, it's a good idea to visit a personal trainer to check your technique if you're new to it or returning to it after an injury.
Looking for additional motivation to work out? Read about my experiences doing Lily James' 600-rep ab routine, trying Chris Hemsworth's Thor resistance band exercise, and incorporating 100 dead bugs into my daily routine.
An oblique crunch technique
As you would for a standard crunch, begin by laying flat on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. As you support your neck, place your hands behind your head. Ensure that your hips are still on the mat and that your legs are stacked one on top of the other before lowering your knees to the left.
You should feel this along the right side of your stomach as you engage your core and crunch upwards, lifting your torso. You should feel this along the left side of your abdomen. After you have finished your repetitions, move your legs to the right side and repeat.
a picture of a guy doing oblique crunches
Keep in mind that this exercise strengthens your core; avoid pulling your head and neck forward with your hands. Keep your feet on the ground, bend your knees, and raise your arms over your head if this variation is too strenuous for you. Bring your arms to the left side of your knees as you crunch up, finish all of your reps on the left, and then repeat on the right.
For a week, I performed 50 oblique crunches daily. This is what happened to my abs.
Oblique crunches are a perfect example of how sometimes the smallest workouts can cause the greatest pain. I knew after 20 repetitions that this one would really burn my abs, and I was right.
The key to this exercise is to maintain steady, controlled motion to guarantee proper form; otherwise, you won't be targeting your abs and run the danger of straining your neck. To make sure I was concentrating on my technique and not rushing through the exercise, I chose to do two sets of 25 repetitions on each side, with brief pauses in between.
I won't name names, but I've heard fitness celebrities in the past claim that they avoid oblique workouts because they may result in a "boxy" body and that the secret to having an hourglass figure is to disregard the obliques. When I expressed my disagreement with this idea to personal trainer Lucy Gornall, she said, "this is weird in my perspective since all muscles should be given attention for a well-rounded exercise."
The task seemed to become a bit easier but also a lot more monotonous as the week went on. I chose oblique v-ups on the last few days to really amp up the intensity, which burned my core and worked the side of my body hard. Lay on your side with your knees bent and your legs piled on top of one another to do an oblique v-up. Put your top arm behind your head and your bottom arm extended on the ground. Crunch up in a V shape while contracting your obliques, bringing the elbow of the upper arm to your knees.
a lady executing an oblique v up in an illustration
Did I have the abs of my dreams seven days later? Unfortunately, no number of crunches will create a six-pack a la Chris Hemsworth; noticeable abs come from having a low body fat percentage (see out how to calculate your body fat percentage and why it matters here). Having said that, I felt as if I had pushed my core harder and noticed that I often tend to ignore my obliques while doing out.
Crunches helped me focus on maintaining good form while running, keeping my body erect and my core muscles engaged rather than slouching into my stride. Oblique crunches are still there, but I won't be doing them daily going forward.
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