The Exercises That Helped this Guy Lose 180 Lbs. A guy’s awareness of his muscles single arm russian twist a simple progression. You start with what you see in the mirror: biceps, chest, shoulders, six pack. You quickly realize there’s also some interesting stuff on the other side: lats, traps, triceps.
At some point, not long after your legs stop growing, you figure out those muscles respond to training, too. But the real test of your muscular awareness comes when you start to wonder about all the ones in between, like your obliques. You might notice your own, if you’re lean enough. Or you might see a picture of a shredded fitness model and wonder what’s going on with those fingerlike muscles on the sides of his waist. Whatever your motivation, when you search for exercises that target the obliques, you’ll soon come across the Russian twist. Sit with your torso leaning back at a 45-degree angle, knees bent, and your feet either on the floor or elevated a few inches. In most variations you hold something in front of your chest, usually a medicine ball or weight plate.
From that starting position you rotate your shoulders to the left and right. You can also guess why people use it. So if the Russian twist directly targets the obliques with a movement the muscles are designed to perform, what’s the problem? For one thing, your lower back is only able to rotate 10 to 15 degrees. For another, leaning back with your upper body unsupported automatically puts your lumbar spine in a vulnerable position. Twisting from that position increases the risk, especially with a heavier weight.
Fortunately, Robertson says, there are much better exercises to use in your core workouts. Pallof press For relatively inexperienced lifters, or anyone who’s dealt with back pain in the recent past, Robertson recommends the Palloff press, which you can see demonstrated by Boston-based trainer Tony Gentilcore, C. Attach a band or set a cable pulley to about chest height. Grab the handle or the end of the band with both hands and stand sideways to the machine or attachment point. Push the handle straight out in front of you, pause, pull it back to your chest, and repeat. Do 10 reps, turn and face the opposite direction, and repeat. All you have to do is square up and hold that position.
It also makes it easy to feel the contraction of your obliques as they work to prevent your torso from bending and rotating. Over time, you can try a lot of variations. You can hold each rep for 5 seconds, then 10, then 15. You can also try it half-kneeling, with the knee closest to the machine or attachment point on the floor.
