MAXIM fitness guru ALEXA TOWERSEY tells you how you can rotate your way to a resilient body…
Training is about resiliency. No matter how you train, the result should always lead to a stronger, healthier and more resilient body. Limiting your program to training in only one direction does not lead to resiliency. Rotation is actually NOT one of the six foundational movement patterns (squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull and carry), but it is just as important to athletic development and injury prevention. Rotation through the torso is essentially how we transfer force from our hips through to our shoulders.
Most strength training programs have a devastating lack of rotational and anti-rotational work. Why? Because most people enjoy training their “mirror muscles” more than their functional counterparts. But a powerful and athletic-looking midsection isn’t complete without a thick set of internal and external obliques. And I have to tell you that from a lady’s point of view, those two V-shaped muscular grooves found way down south on the male torso, act just like tour guides directing traffic to all the good stuff. Brings a whole new meaning to the term “Love Handles”.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
One of the best ways to hypertrophy a muscle (or muscle group) is to isolate it while it’s executing its true function. Whether you’re doing an athletic movement or carrying grocery bags in from the car, the oblique’s primary job is to create a strong brace to resist excess movement at the trunk. That’s why they are primarily targeted through the act of resisting lateral flexion while maintaining a braced isometric position.
But isometric exercises are only half of the complete puzzle. Why? Because the torso musculature doesn’t just transfer and reduce force by limiting movement, it also helps to produce force by creating motion – dynamic movement. There are three main ways that you can train your way to a sexy AF “Adonis Belt”…
ANTI-MOVEMENT/ISOMETRICS
Anti Rotation: This is highly useful in both injury prevention and sports performance training. Think of MMA, where your ability to resist an opponent twisting and throwing you around like a dishcloth has its benefits.
● Kneeling Pallof Hold/Press: Since your body has less stability in a split stance, this version of the Pallof requires more oblique engagement.
● Barbell Landmine: This challenges the entire core and upper body to maintain stability as you alternate weight from side-to-side without twisting.
Anti Lateral Flexion: Side planks are the exercises you’d be most familiar with here. Outside of the traditional static hold, you can incorporate hip drops, rotations and cable plank pulls to increase the difficulty level.
TOP TIP
When training the obliques, you need to consider general exercises – ones you may not even think of as core work – as potentially having some benefit. For example, push-ups can be considered moving planks (anti-extension), and heavy single-arm dumbbell rows can challenge your ability to resist rotation (anti-rotation). Consider your program as a whole.
OFFSET LOADING
Sure, holding a side plank is a simple way to include anti-lateral flexion, but does holding that position transfer to real life or sports? Hardly. Uneven loaded carries and lifts are an excellent alternative/addition.
Suitcase Carry: The suitcase carry (carrying weight on one side only) imposes actual “usable” resistance, and it trains the obliques in the same way they function – by resisting excess movement at the trunk. As an added bonus, it also hammers your traps, shoulders, forearms, and upper back.
Offset Deadlifts: Essentially this ends up feeling similar to a combination suitcase hold, Pallof press, and single arm plank, as your entire body from head to toe will be forced to fire in order to resist lateral flexion and rotational forces acting on the spine. If you’re starting out, the Kettlebell Suitcase Romanian Deadlift or Trap Bar Deadlift would be the variations I recommend.
Offset Overhead Press: Stand at one end of the bar, with one hand almost touching the sleeve, and press straight up. Since the weight is so far from your center of mass and offset to one side, you actually have to pull with the furthest arm while pressing to prevent the barbell from tipping. It’s like a standing-side-plank-half-pull-up and press. It’s a truly unique exercise. You might want to start with a DB or KB before progressing to a Barbell.
DYNAMIC ROTATION
Russian twists and rotational crunch variations are old-school favorites, but including some more power-based exercises can add some intensity to your training while building power and athleticism.
Cable Woodchops: Low to High, High to Low or directly across the centre, Cable chop variations are some of the most effective exercises for building an athletic midsection, given that they help build an efficient power transfer between your lower and upper body.
Medicine Ball Rotation Slams/Throws: Rotational training via medicine ball slams and throws are amazing in developing coordination, athleticism, and strength in a ballistic environment. They can simulate sprinting (rotational forces of the pelvis), throwing objects (hammer throws, javelins, shot puts, random rocks with your friends), and yes, hitting things (football, baseball, that really annoying guy at the pub blocking your view of finals footy). Disclaimer: I don’t encourage violence. ■
TOP TIP
Dynamic Core Focused Exercises can be fantastic as part of an extended warmup to prime the CNS before your bigger lifts.
For the full article grab the December 2020 issue of MAXIM Australia from newsagents and convenience locations. Subscribe here.
