Do Squats Work Your Obliques?

The squat is a compound powerlifting exercise that focuses on several muscle groups in the lower body. It’s effective for building muscle mass, increasing muscular endurance and developing lower-body flexibility. In addition to the muscles actively engaged during the two phases of the lift, the squat also incorporates several stabilizer muscles in your core to establish balance and to maintain posture. While standard back squats don’t directly work the obliques, those muscles do provide support during the execution of the lift.

  1. Muscles Worked

    • The basic back squat targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals and calf muscles in the lower body. The quadriceps engage primarily to control the downward motion as your legs compress, while the calves and hamstrings provide the power to lift you back up to the starting position. Several secondary muscles engage in the core, including the erector spinae and the transversus abdominis. The latter muscles underlay the inner layer of the obliques. Flexion in and contraction of the obliques helps support the transversus abdominis.

    Form

    • The squat consists of two phases: the concentric and the eccentric. As with most weightlifting exercises, the concentric phase consists of contracting muscles to control weight as it moves along a downward path. The squat begins with the concentric phase as you start from a standing position and control the weight as you bend your knees and lower yourself to the floor. At full compression, the eccentric phase begins. This is where you lift yourself and the weight up, back to a standing position. Perform the back squat with weights and a barbell, dumbbells, kettlebells or simply with your own body weight. Use of a barbell, weighted or empty, will help you maintain balance and form throughout the lift.

    Alternate Form

    • To more effectively engage the traversus abdominis during the motion of a squat, employ a simple variation called the overhead squat. This version must be performed with a barbell. Go through the same motion of the squat, but hold the barbell directly over your head with your arms fully extended, locked at the elbows. This alters the center of gravity for you during the lift, shifting it more toward your core. This increases the stress on the traversus abdominis as it engages to keep you upright. This increased engagement also increases the involvement of the inner obliques to maintain posture and support the erector spinae.

    Considerations

    • Prevent overtraining and set a workout schedule that gives you enough recovery time in between squat workouts. Also, if you already perform multiple exercises that target the core and specifically the obliques, be careful how you incorporate squats. Too many exercises that engage the same support muscles can quickly lead to fatigue and may cause injury. Use a spotter or a Smith rack for any free-weight version of a squat.