Obliques: The overlooked core muscles that support your spine, posture and balance

By Dana Santas

(CNN) — If you want a resilient core, strengthening your six-pack is just the start. Your obliques — the muscles that run along the sides of your waist — may not get the same attention as your front-and-center abdominal muscles, but they shouldn’t be viewed as secondary. Your side abs play an equally critical role in supporting your spine to keep you upright, balanced and moving comfortably through daily activities.

This article is the second in a five-part series on the power of strength training to relieve pain and create ease in movement.

The first article explained how strength training helps your nervous system feel safe and supported. Now, we’re turning our attention to the obliques to show how building strength in these muscles can give you greater stability in posture and movement, prevent compensations, and reduce low back strain.

Why your obliques matter

Your obliques are made up of two layers: external and internal. The external obliques run diagonally from your lower ribs down toward your opposite hip, while the internal obliques sit underneath with fibers running diagonally upward from your pelvis toward your ribs. Together, they create a supportive corset for your trunk.

Unlike the rectus abdominis, which covers the front of the abdomen and mainly bends your torso forward, your obliques control rotation, resist unwanted twisting and keep your rib cage stacked over your pelvis. The side abs are also active during side bending and lateral stability, playing a key role in balance.

Strong obliques stabilize your trunk during single-leg movements and help transfer force from your lower body to your upper body — essential in sports like tennis, baseball and golf, but just as important when raking leaves, shoveling snow or carrying groceries. In practical terms, your obliques help you twist, walk, climb stairs, reach overhead, breathe and more.

How weakness leads to pain

Like their core counterpart the rectus abdominis, obliques are often recognized as “vanity muscles,” associated with the visible side cuts on the waist of lean athletes and models. But the real value of these muscles is in providing functional postural support that prevents pain. When your obliques are weak, it can prompt a cascade of instability and misalignment — ribs jutting forward, pelvis tipping out of alignment and your spine losing its stable foundation.

Because your obliques act like tensioned cables, holding your trunk steady so your back doesn’t bear the load alone, when they aren’t doing their job effectively, other muscles pick up the slack. The resulting compensations can create painful tension in your low back and hips. Research consistently links core weakness to low back pain, which affects up to 80% of American adults at some point in their lives.

How your breath can strengthen your obliques

Every exhale naturally recruits your obliques to help narrow and stabilize your rib cage, keeping your lower ribs from flaring and creating postural alignment with your hips. That means you can strengthen your obliques and improve your posture and stability simply by being intentional with your breathing.

To practice engaging your obliques with your exhales, try this basic breathing exercise:

• Sit comfortably with your feet on the floor and place your hands on your lower ribs.

• Relax your shoulders and breathe in through your nose for a count of four, focusing your breath on filling the lung space under your hands and expanding your ribs outward.

• Try not to raise your shoulders as you inhale.

• Exhale deeply out of your nose or mouth (whatever feels most comfortable for you), doubling the length of your exhale to a count of eight.

• As you exhale, focus on moving your lower ribs in toward the middle of your body, feeling the engagement of your oblique muscles under your hands.

• Repeat through 10 breaths, progressing to an elongated five-count inhale and 10-count exhale breathing pattern, if you feel comfortable.

Long, steady exhales not only activate your core and properly position your rib cage but also calm your nervous system, reinforcing the mind-body connection, highlighted in the first article of this series:

Research published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science shows that integrating diaphragmatic breathing into core training — particularly exercises focused on mobilizing core muscles — can improve core strength and function better than exercises not linked to breath.

To that end, practice rotational exercises that leverage your breathing to both stretch and activate your obliques.

In any slow, controlled twisting motion, such as a windmill twist, inhale to open up your shoulder, chest and ribs to the side, feeling the stretch in your obliques, and exhale to activate your obliques as you close back into the starting position:

Exercises targeting your obliques

Targeted core training programs, like Pilates, can increase the thickness and activation of the obliques, improving both stability and function.

But you don’t need exhaustive programming or expensive equipment to start strengthening your obliques. Begin with accessible exercises, such as the ones below, and progress as your strength improves. Choose movements and weights appropriate for your fitness level.

Dumbbell side bend: Stand holding a dumbbell in one hand at your side. Keeping your arm straight, slowly bend sideways, lowering the weight along your leg to a comfortable end range. Then return to standing. Repeat for eight to 12 reps then do the same on the other side.

Offset carry: Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand at your side and walk slowly 20 paces, keeping your core stable and posture upright. Switch sides.

Chop: Using a resistance band or cable anchored overhead to one side, use both hands to pull down diagonally across your body to the opposite side, like chopping wood. Practice eight to 12 reps and repeat on the other side.

Side plank: Lying on your side with your elbow under your shoulder and your hips stacked, exhale as lift your hips off the ground into a straight line. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds while breathing steadily with long, deep exhales. For an easier version, keep your knees down, bent at 90 degrees. Repeat on the other side.

Start with two to three sets of each exercise. Focus on form and breathing — exhaling as you exert effort will engage your obliques more effectively.

Remember, your obliques are central players in keeping your trunk aligned, your spine supported, and your movements stable, balanced and comfortable. Give them the attention they deserve by practicing targeted exercises a few times week.

In the next article, we’ll look at another overlooked muscle group: the inner thighs. Like your obliques, your adductors provide stability and alignment that can make the difference between moving with ease and struggling with pain.

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