Why Oblique Strength Matters for Building (or Rebuilding) Your Core

barrabuilt
Nov 9
2 min read

If you’ve been following along with my core training posts, you’ve heard me talk about the importance of deep core connection, proper breathing, and rebuilding the foundation before jumping into high-intensity work. Once that foundation feels solid, there’s a major next step that often gets overlooked:

Strengthening your obliques.

Whether you’re postpartum or simply working on better core function, your obliques play a huge role in how your body stabilizes, rotates, lifts, and transfers load. They’re the muscles that help why-oblique-strength-matters-for-building-or-rebuilding-your-coreyou control movement instead of compensating with your lower back or hips.

Your obliques matter for the real-life moments too:carrying a wiggly toddler, lifting a car seat, hauling groceries, holding a bag on one side, rotating to grab something off the floor. When your obliques are strong, all of those things feel more supported and less like a battle with your spine.

Why Oblique Strength Is Essential

During pregnancy, your abdominal wall expands, your center of gravity shifts, and your obliques often take on more work than they’re built for. After birth, it’s common to feel unstable, wobbly, or “disconnected” through the sides of your core.

Rebuilding oblique strength helps you:

Stabilize your spine
Improve rotational control
Support healing from diastasis recti
Reduce low back discomfort
Move more efficiently
Build strength that translates to lifting, carrying, and training

This isn’t about a smaller waistline. It’s about giving your body the support system it needs to move well in every direction.

When to Add Oblique Work

If you’re still learning 360-degree breathing and reconnecting your deep core, start there. Once your breath, pelvic floor, and deep abdominal system feel coordinated, you can start layering in oblique-focused movements.

The exercises below are the exact ones I like to introduce once someone is ready to progress. They’re taught in a supported side plank on elbows and knees, which keeps everything safe and low-pressure. As you get stronger, you can move to hands or feet to challenge your body further.

Four Oblique Strength Builders

1️⃣ Side Plank Thread the Needle

Lift your top arm, then rotate and thread it underneath your body with control.

Why it works:It teaches your obliques to stabilize through rotation, which is essential for real-life movement and safe twisting.

2️⃣ Side Plank Clamshells

Stack your knees, lift your hips, and open your top knee into a clamshell.

Why it works:This combo of glutes + obliques is gold for pelvic stability and hip alignment. It trains your body to resist rotation and maintain control.

3️⃣ Side Plank Crunch

Reach your top arm and leg long, then bring them together on an exhale for a controlled crunch.

Why it works:A targeted oblique contraction without unnecessary pressure on the midline. It reinforces side-body strength with proper breathing.

4️⃣ Bear Crawl

Start in a tabletop, exhale to float the knees an inch off the ground, then crawl forward with slow, precise steps.

Why it works:This move trains your entire core system to stabilize while you move. It’s one of the best functional exercises you can add into your routine.