Bodyweight Pyramid Workout Targeting Obliques

You may have seen another post (unfinished, without pictures) pop on here this morning about a BOSU ball workout–sorry about that! I messed up my scheduling and a draft got published.

It’s a gloomy, rainy day here in Boston, but no complaints–I’ll be in sunny southern California soon enough! On Thursday I’m heading out to LA and then Friday through Sunday will be spent in Palm Springs for a bachelorette party. It’s the first time all my college BFFs and I will be together in years (after graduation we all seemed to move to different corners of the country) so I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I’ll do a blog post about the weekend in case any of you are thinking of doing a destination bachelorette party or just have a Palm Springs getaway in your sights. If you’ve been there and have restaurant/activity recommendations, let me know in the comments!

Bodyweight Pyramid Workout Targeting Obliques

Since this is a pyramid workout and you’re going through it at your own pace, the quick video I made for it just demos the exercises rather than going through the whole thing in real time. As always, full description with pictures below!

We’re mixing a pyramid structure of reps with 20-second isometric holds. There are three exercises which will be performed on the right and then the left. The first two will be done using a pyramid of reps, the third exercise is just a side plank hold (20 seconds EVERY time). Your rep numbers start and 10 and get reduced by 2 each time through the circuit. So here’s the breakdown:

10 reps exercise 1 right / 10 reps exercise 1 left
10 reps exercise 2 right / 10 reps exercise 2 left
20 second hold right / 20 second hold left

8 reps exercise 1 right / 8 reps exercise 1 left
8 reps exercise 2 right / 8 reps exercise 2 left
20 second hold right / 20 second hold left

… continue until you get to 2 reps each …

Your goal is to complete this workout as fast as you can without sacrificing proper form. It’s better (and way more effective) to go slow and nail the correct form than to rush it sloppily.

Rotating Crunch to Side V Up

For these, you just alternate between a full-body crunch and a side v-up crunch on the target side, rolling from center to your side, back and forth. For the reps on the right, start laying on your left side with your left arm stretched outwards on the ground for support. For comfortable positioning, you want to be on the side of your butt rather than directly on the hip bone. Do a side v up, lifting your legs up straight to meet your right elbow and raised torso. Lower down and roll onto your back with arms overhead and legs straight out, hovering a couple inches off the floor (to make these challenging, try your best to never let your feet rest on the floor, even while rolling from side to side). From this position, do a full-body crunch, bending your knees in as you sit up through the torso, chest coming up and in to meet knees. Slowly release back down onto your back and roll over to your left side for your next side v up.

The side v up + full body crunch in center = 1 rep. You’ll do the given number of reps, rolling to the left hip for each side v up. You’ll then repeat, rolling to the right hip for each side v up.

Windshield Wiper Sliders in Plank

Start in a plank position, hands stacked under shoulders. From here, you’re going to crunch the right knee in towards the right wrist. This is your starting position. Keeping the knee in as close to the arm as possible (make physical contact if you can), slide the knee up towards the elbow. From there, swish it across to the left elbow (touch it if possible). Swish the knee back to the right elbow and then slide it back down to wrist height. That’s 1 rep.

Side Plank Bottom Knee Crunch Hold

In a side plank position with your bottom hand stacked under the shoulder, press your top foot into the floor for support and then crunch the bottom knee into your chest. Hold it there for 20 seconds. The key is to keep the hips stacked as you do this–don’t let the top hop roll forward!

MODIFY: If your wrists are burnt out from holding a high plank in the previous exercise, you can totally do this one on your forearm!

WEARING | leggings c/o Terez (get 25% off with code nicole25) // Athleta tank (old but you can shop their current tank selection here) // Nike sneakers

Side note: I LOVE the skull leggings I’m wearing in today’s post! If you look closely at the pattern it almost looks like someone beadazzled jeggings. Which actually sounds awful, but it’s not haha. You can get 25% off ANY Terez leggings or apparel with code nicole25.