A tightened tummy, which representatives of the opposite sex look at, is not just a dream, but a very real and achievable goal. To get closer to it, you need nothing at all: about 10-15 minutes of daily training. So, are you ready to continue working on the abs? In this article, we will look at a few more useful exercises – this time training oblique abdominal muscles.
Give variety to your workouts!
We hope you have already tried the upper abdominal exercises from the previous article? Or maybe you even like them now? We like it so much that we don’t really want to part with them … Seriously, this also happens – we get used to one training program, and we are too lazy to master a new one: don’t want to change anythingAfter all, habit, as you know, is a terrible force.
However, in addition to saving you from boredom, novelty brings you another benefit – a great opportunity to practice more often! After all, exercises for the rectus abdominis and oblique muscles can (and even highly desirable) be alternated: while some muscle groups are working, others are resting. But only without fanaticism! For beginners, 3 workouts per week is enough. Give your muscles time recover after stress – it is important.
3 exercises for the oblique muscles of the press
- Cross twists. Lying on your back, bend your knees so that the soles are on the floor. Keep your hands behind your head. As you exhale, lifting your shoulders, stretch your right elbow to your left knee. Lower yourself and inhale. Repeat on the other side. Simply put, you’re doing regular crunches with additional body twists. Men – 2 sets of 16-20 repetitions, women – 2 sets of 8-16 repetitions (according to well-being).
- We reach for the heels. Continuing to lie on your back with bent legs (knees pointing up, soles pressed to the floor), lower your arms along the torso. Lift your shoulders off the floor and try to reach your right heel with your right hand. Repeat on the other side. Men and women – 2 vigorous sets of 16-20 repetitions.
- Twisting in the supine position. You need to lie on your back and bend your knees. Keep your feet and knees together. Rotate your hips and tilt your legs to the side until your knees are as close to the floor as possible. Keep your hands behind your head. From this starting position, tear your shoulder blades off the floor as high as possible, rushing your chest to the ceiling. Do 10-16 reps if you are a man, then roll over to the other side and do the same. Women need 8-10 times in each direction.
Important Points
- Make sure that the tension in the abdominal muscles remains constant throughout the hike. Do not relax when returning to the starting position.
- Do not think about work, children, vacations, etc. Focus more on your breathing and visualize your obliques getting stronger with each new rep.
- Perform movements only due to the abdominal muscles. Avoid tension in the neck!
- At the moment of the highest tension, fix the position for 1-2 seconds.
- The number of approaches should not exceed 3, the number of repetitions in the approaches is selected individually depending on your physical form. We give only approximate figures as an example. As you train, the number of repetitions should increase.
- When training the press, you do not need to use weights, because. this leads to an increase in muscle mass.
- Do not get too carried away with training the oblique abdominal muscles: on the one hand, they help make your waist slimmer, but on the other hand, you don’t need too massive muscles on the sides.
Everything worked out? Keep fighting spirit! Next time we are waiting for the training of the “lower” part of the abdominal press!