Obliques Training for the Slim Woman: 135 to 160 lbs, Recomp Phase

For a woman at 135 to 160 pounds in a recomp, I train obliques with Pallof presses, suitcase carries and rotating dead bugs. Do it on lower body days of a four-day upper/lower split, add weight when every set reaches the top of the rep range, and expect visible change in about 8 to 12 weeks.

Slim is my name for women between 135 and 160 pounds, usually a pear, hourglass or inverted triangle shape, in a recomp phase: losing fat and building muscle at the same time on 1,700 to 2,000 calories and 120 to 145 grams of protein a day.

If you’re a woman at 135 to 160 pounds who wants a more defined waist, I need to address the most common mistake in oblique training before you do a single rep: the exercises that most people call “oblique training”, heavy side bends with dumbbells, weighted cable woodchoppers, are specifically designed to add lateral width to your waist, not narrow it.

Training your obliques correctly narrows your waist and creates the visible taper from ribs to hip. Training them incorrectly widens it. The distinction is in exercise selection.

What muscles are you training in your obliques?

The external obliques run diagonally from your lower ribs toward your pelvis on the outer surface of your abdomen. The internal obliques lie beneath them and run in the opposite diagonal direction, creating an X-pattern of diagonal muscle fibers. Together they perform three functions: spinal rotation, lateral spinal flexion (bending side to side), and abdominal compression.

Heavy lateral resistance exercises, weighted side bends, heavy woodchoppers, train the lateral flexion function and create muscular hypertrophy in the lateral direction, widening your waist. Anti-rotation and anti-lateral-flexion exercises, Pallof press, suitcase carry, develop your obliques without adding lateral width. For the Slim archetype, anti-rotation exercises are your primary oblique training tool. The goal is a narrow, structured waist, not wider oblique blocks.

How does body shape change obliques training?

Pear Shape

Your natural waist is relatively narrow. Oblique training through anti-rotation movements preserves and defines that waist without adding width. Avoid all heavy lateral resistance work.

Hourglass Shape

Your waist is already your narrowest point. Oblique anti-rotation work develops the structural definition of your waist taper. Light woodchopper variations are acceptable for your shape, keep resistance moderate.

Inverted Triangle Shape

Your lower body is narrower. Oblique width from heavy lateral work would not create imbalance here, but your primary goal remains waist definition, not width. Anti-rotation focus is still appropriate.

What is the exact obliques workout for Slim?

Exercise 1: Pallof Press

Set a cable at chest height. Stand perpendicular to it, holding the handle with both hands against your sternum. Step away for tension. Press the handle straight out from your chest, arms fully extended. Hold 2 seconds. Return. The cable pulls you sideways; your obliques resist.

Sets: 3 per side. Reps: 12. Rest: 60 seconds. Starting weight: 20 pounds. Progressive overload: add 5 pounds when all reps are completed with no hip shift. Common mistake: allowing your hips to rotate toward the anchor.

Exercise 2: Suitcase Carry

Hold a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand only. Walk for 30 meters or approximately 15 steps. The unilateral load causes a lateral bend tendency, your obliques resist it, creating the anti-lateral-flexion training stimulus. Keep your torso completely vertical throughout. Switch hands and repeat.

Sets: 3 per side. Distance: 30 meters. Starting weight: 30 to 40 pounds. Progressive overload: add 5 pounds per hand monthly. Common mistake: leaning toward the weighted side, the exercise demands staying perfectly vertical.

Exercise 3: Dead Bug (Rotation Variation)

From the standard dead bug position, back flat, arms and knees raised, as you lower opposite arm and leg, add a slight rotation in your ribcage toward the lowering side. This adds oblique rotation demand to the transverse abdominis work.

Sets: 3. Reps: 10 per side. Rest: 45 seconds. Common mistake: losing lower back contact with the floor during the rotational component.

What should you expect at week 1, week 4 and week 12?

Week 4: Waist circumference may decrease without weight change, transverse and oblique compression.

Week 12: Visible oblique definition from lower ribs to hip crest.

What should you read next?

Pair this with Slim abs training and Slim glutes training, and see the high protein diet for Slim. To work with me, start with the XPL quiz, which is my intake form for every client and confirms whether Slim is your category, then see coaching options and pricing.

Written by Zavier King, personal trainer in Houston and online coach at XPL. ISSA Certified Personal Trainer and NASM Nutrition Coach.