Core Finisher for Obliques

This quick core finisher for obliques will take you just about 10 minutes to complete. While the focus is the obliques, you’ll work center abdominals and upper body as well.

In my own workout routine, I tend to do a lot of plank-based core exercises—especially since that’s what we do at Btone where I teach. I’ve noticed that while I feel really strong with planking work, I struggle a lot with core work laying on my back. Makes sense since I don’t do much of it! I’m trying to work on my weaknesses this year, which means incorporating non-plank core work with the planking.

Today’s workout uses a mix of both, and if you follow along with the video you’ll see how much I struggle with the crunch blocks—woof! I almost hesitated to publish it, but the point of sharing workouts with you all isn’t to show you how strong I am and good I am at certain exercises. It’s to share workouts that will challenge you (and me) and strengthen our bodies—and hopefully teach you something along the way.

The point of this mini monologue isn’t to excuse myself for modifying most of the crunch blocks in the video. I just want to remind you that avoiding exercises because you’re “bad” at them will do nothing to strengthen that weakness. In fact, it can contribute to and even worsen muscle imbalances that are making these exercises hard for you in the first place. So get outside your comfort zone and put in the work—it’s worth it! Plus, seeing progress with something you were once “bad” at is SO rewarding.

Core Finisher for Obliques

EQUIPMENT YOU’LL NEED:

Sliders – I’ve linked to the set I used to have, but I’m just using dish towels in the video, which work great on hard flooring. On carpet, try DVD cases or magazine covers.

This is a build-a-combo workout, a structure I’ve used a few times in the past. Over the course of 1:45, you’ll build a three-part combo move. Here’s the breakdown:

15 seconds: Move 1
30 seconds: Move 1 + Move 2
45 seconds: Move 1 + Move 2 + Move 3
End with a 15-second hold

You do that all continuously, with no breaks during the 1:45. When you’re done, rest 60 seconds and then move onto the next block. The first two blocks focus on the left side obliques. You then repeat them on the right.

As with all workouts, make sure you’re properly warmed up beforehand, and always listen to your body, modifying or stopping as needed. I have a five-minute warm up on the blog, or you can do your own at home.

Workout Breakdown

See 01:45 in above video for preview of exercises.

Sliding Plank Block – Left
—Sliding Snake Crunch (left foot in front of right)
—— + Single-Arm March (right forearm down)
——— + Crossbody Crunch (left knee to right elbow)
———— Hold the Crossbody Crunch to finish

Crunch Block – Left
—Bicycle Sit Up (right elbow to left knee)
—— + Side V-Up (roll onto right hip)
——— + Leg Lift

Sliding Plank Block – Right
—Sliding Snake Crunch (right foot in front of left)
—— + Single-Arm March (left forearm down)
——— + Crossbody Crunch (right knee to left elbow)
———— Hold the Crossbody Crunch to finish

Crunch Block – Right
—Bicycle Sit Up (left elbow to right knee)
—— + Side V-Up (roll onto left hip)
——— + Leg Lift
———— Hold Leg Hover to finish

If you like the structure of this workout, check out these other build-a-combo workouts from the archives:

xo Nicole