SIDE
TWISTS (OBLIQUES) ROMAN CHAIR
CORRECT FORM
1. Lying on your
side, hook your legs under the leg pads of a modified Roman-chair
as shown, such that your waist is just past the thigh pad. Fold your
arms across your chest or place them behind your head. Bend your torso
as shown by curving through the spine. At the bottom of the movement,
your back should be shaped like a "C". Keep your head in
line with your torso.
2. Raise your
torso upward, bending through the spine in the opposite direction.
Keep your head and neck level with your torso. At the top of the
movement, your spine should again be shaped like a "C".
3) Inhale as
you lower your torso, exhale as you lift torso.
MUSCLES USED
SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS/PRECAUTIONS
Be sure to watch
for lower back pain when doing this exercise. You should feel all
of the tension develop in the oblique and erector spinae muscles.
This should feel like a burning sensation as when a muscle is fatiguing
and not like lower back pain.
Be careful of adding weight (holding onto a plate for instance).
This is not an exercise where you would want to overload the muscle
to a high degree (i.e. you should be able to do at least 12 repetitions
comfortably). Do NOT sacrifice form on this exercise ever!
For those with limited mobility in their thoracic and lumbar
spine, this may not be an appropriate exercise. It is helpful to
check with a physical therapist who can analyze the segmental motion
of your spine to ensure you are moving throughout the whole spine,
as opposed to one or two segments taking all of the force.
EFFECTIVENESS
This is a very
effective exercise for the oblique and erector spinae muscles. It
allows you to work these muscles in the frontal or side-to-side plane
against resistance. It is essentially the sit-up
for the obliques. While they will not get rid of "love handles",
they will certainly build up the oblique muscles.
Side twists
can be progressed in a couple of ways:
1. By holding
your arms straight up over your head. This will increase the torque
required by your erector spinae muscles to raise your torso from
the lowered position.
2. By holding
a weight against your chest (preferably a flat, Olympic-style
weight). Progress this lightly (in 5 or 10 pound increments).
HELPFUL
WITH TRAINING FOR
Virtually all sports
require excellent torso strength that is needed for cutting, twisting
and turning. Side twists are an effective exercise to build up the
oblique muscles that are needed during these aspects of sports performance. |
