When I say training the core most people think about performing endless crunches or holding a plank forever. One of the most important, and often neglected, movements of the trunk is the rotation. Even though we tend to perform this movement several times during the day without noticing, this movement is not target properly in the gym. Let’s take a look in the muscles involved and a few exercises option to get you stronger in this plane of movement.

Trunk Rotation

Trunk rotation refers to the rotary movement of the spine on the transverse plane. The human spine is composed by seven cervical vertebrae (neck), 12 thoracic vertebrae (chest), five lumbar vertebrae (lower back), the sacrum (lower back), and the coccyx (tailbone). These bony structures are separated by intervertebral disks that act as shock absorbers and allow movement between the vertebrae. Each vertebra is capable of moving in three directions (back and forth, lateral flexion, and rotation), and even though the movement at each joint is small, the spine as a single structure has great flexibility and range of motion.  Because the pelvis is attached to the vertebral column, spinal movements are usually transmitted to the hip bones.

Most of the movement from spinal rotations comes from the thoracic and cervical regions. However, the ribcage attachment at the thoracic level limits mobility. Rotation is also limited at the lumbar region because of the size and shape of these vertebrae.

Spine rotation is performed during many daily activities and sports. For instance, when you are seated in your car and you reach for the seatbelt above your left shoulder you are performing a rotational movement. Driving a golf ball or hitting a baseball are examples of spinal rotation during sports events.

The muscles involved in trunk rotation movements are part of the core structure of the body. Our core is composed by muscles of the back, abdomen, hips, and pelvic floor, which are responsible for body stabilization during movement and the maintenance of posture and body alignment. A strong core can improve performance of activities of daily living and sports, and play an important role on injury prevention.

Muscles Involved

Trunk rotation is performed mainly by the abdominal oblique (external and internal) muscles. The “obliques” are located on both sides of the trunk in the abdominal region, connecting the ribcage to the pelvis. When the pelvic bones are stabilized, the oblique muscles pull the ribcage towards the hips, creating a rotational movement of the whole spine.

On posterior region of the trunk, the erector spinae muscle group and the iliopsoas muscle group work in synergy with the oblique muscles. Also, deep and tiny muscles connecting one vertebra to another rotate each vertebra individually.

Rotation Exercises

Trunk rotation drills are examples of functional training exercises because they tend to mimic movements of common daily activities. These exercises are meant to strengthen the core muscles. During these exercises, even though the prime movers are the oblique muscles, many other muscles are engaged in order to stabilize the body and keep good form.

Below you will find a few exercises to train those muscles in a functional way.

1. Broomstick twists

Standing with your feet hip-width apart, hold a stick behind your upper-back. Keep pelvis stable while you slowly rotate the upper-body from side to side. Contract your abdominals and buttocks to maintain a neutral spine.

This is a good exercise for beginners because there is no load (weight) on the spine, which is appropriate when one is learning a new movement. Perform this exercise in a slow and controlled manner for best results. Long sets (20 repetitions or more) may be adequate.

2. Seated trunk rotations

Sit on the floor with your legs bent in front of you. Hold a medicine ball or a light dumbbell with both hands, keeping it close to the chest. Engage your abdominals, and rotate the upper-body to one side, keeping your back straight. Come back to center and repeat to the other side.

This is also a beginners’ exercise, and you should strive for a slow and controlled motion. Light weights are more appropriate than heavier loads. When you feel you are ready for more challenge, try leaning backwards while keeping your abs tucked and your back straight. Another option is to lift the feet from the ground, balancing on your buttocks.

3. Walking lunges with twist

Stand with feet close together, holding a medicine ball or dumbbell with both hands. Keep your elbows bent and the weight close to your chest. Step forward with one leg, and slowly lower the hips down by bending the knees. Your knees won’t touch the floor. Find your balance, and then, slowly rotate your torso towards the extended leg (the one on the back). Don’t extend your arms, and keep your core engaged. Rotate back to center and extend your knees as you come back to standing. Step the back leg forward, and repeat the drill. Walk in a straight line, alternating sides.

This is an intermediate exercise, and walking lunges should be mastered before attempting this drill. Choose light weights and perform the exercise in a slow and controlled manner for safety reasons.

4. Wood chop

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and hold a medicine ball with both hands. Squat down while you rotate your hips and arms to one side, bringing the ball closer to your foot. Slowly, stand up at the same time as you rotate your hips and arms to the opposite side, bringing the ball above your opposite shoulder. Perform 10 to 12 repetitions, and then, change sides.

This is an advanced movement and should be performed with caution. Use light weights and perform the movement slowly until you master the exercise. Keep your core engaged at all times to protect the back.

5. Ball Russian twist

Sit on a stability ball with your feet planted on the floor. Slowly lean backwards on the ball until your upper back is supported and your knees are bent in a 90 degree angle. Push your pelvis up to maintain back support. Extend both arms in front of you – hands pointing to the ceiling, and palms touching. This is your starting position. Slowly rotate your torso to one side, while keeping your feet grounded and your pelvis tucked. Roll back to center and repeat to the other side.

This is an advanced exercise which requires some core strength to be performed. Abdominals and glutes should be engaged at all times in order to maintain balance and protect the spine.

A pull is basically the opposite movement of a press. In a pulling exercise, resistance is pulled close to the body, while in a press, resistance is pushed away. These exercises usually mimic movements of climbing and rowing. In general, pulling exercises (for the upper-body) engage the Latissimus dorsi (lats, for short), one of the most important back muscles. Among these exercises are pull-ups, pull-downs, pull-overs and rows, which can be performed using machines, free weights, elastic bands, or body-weight.

Pull-ups

A pull-up is a tough exercise because it requires a certain amount of strength to perform it. It is a body-weight exercise, in which you hang from a fixed bar and pull your body up until your chin reaches the bar. This exercise can be performed with a wide overhand (palms facing forward) grip or with a close underhand (palms facing your body) grip. The last option, also known as chin-ups, is a little bit easier than the first. This is because when you use an underhand grip, the biceps muscles are engaged more intensively, helping the back muscles to perform the movement.

Even though this is a “hard-core” exercise, there are ways to make this exercise “doable.” As with the push-up exercise, modifications are available so you can enjoy its benefits.

The Movement

Start by holding onto a fixed bar, letting you body hang. Inhale and, using your back and arms muscles, pull your body up until your chin passes the bar. Controlling the movement, lower your body until your arms are somewhat extended. This is one rep. For women, eight repetitions are considered excellent.

But if you don’t believe you could do even one, don’t be discouraged. I have options for you; just keep reading.

Muscles Involved

This exercise engages primary arms (biceps), back (upper and middle regions), posterior part of the shoulders, and chest (pecs). Stabilizing muscles include abdominal group muscles, deep back muscles, deep shoulder muscles (rotator cuff group), and wrist muscles.

Tips for Proper Form

• Keep your back straight and chest open.
• Control the movement at all times – avoid momentum.
• Keep muscles engaged at the bottom of the movement – do not hang on the shoulders.
• Inhale on the way up.

Variations and Progression

Ok, if a pull-up is out of the question for now, we can start with easier variations to build upper-body strength. First, try hanging from the bar, keeping your upper-body muscles active (not just hanging on your shoulders). Once you can hang for around 30 seconds, you can try doing half-pulls. In this exercise, you use your upper-back muscles to lift your chest a bit and relax. The movement comes from the shoulder blades only. Repeat 12 times and release the bar.

You can also try a negative pull-up, in which you use a bench to position your body on the up-phase of a pull-up, and then use your core strength to lower the body until arms are straight. Release the bar and repeat.

Another way to go is practicing incline pulls. Use a bar low enough so that your feet are touching the floor. Hold the bar and slide forward. Your body should be in a reverse plank, and your arms perpendicular to the floor. Pull yourself up until your chest is close to the bar. Then, return to the initial position. As with incline push-ups, the higher the bar, the easier it is to perform the exercise. Lower the bar for more challenge, or place a bench under your feet for a decline variation.

Some gyms also have assisted weight pull-up machines. These machines, as the name says, make your job easier by lifting part of the weight for you. So, instead of pulling your whole body weight, you can choose to lift only 60 pounds, for example, and the machine will handle the difference. As you build strength, you reduce the machine’s help.

Dead-lift is an exercise that engages muscle groups all over the body. The classic dead-lift is nothing more than the movement of lifting a heavy object from the floor. For safety reasons, one should bend the knees keeping a flat back, hold the object, and then lift the body using the legs, not the back. A dead-lift is one of the exercises in power-lifting, but I don’t think any of us here are exactly willing to compete in this kind of event. However, you can incorporate this exercise, or any of its variations, in your workout routine if you use light weights and perform it with caution.

Here is how to perform a classic dead-lift:

1. Hold the barbell (or dumbbells) in front of your thighs. Feet should be hip distance apart, knees soft (not locked), chest open and shoulders down and relaxed.
2. Inhale, engage your abdominals and start flexing hips and knees at the same rate as you would in a squat, lowering the bar towards the floor.
3. Go as far as you can (you don’t need to touch the floor), controlling the descent.
4. When you get to the bottom of the movement, stop and then come back to standing. Use your thigh muscles to lift your body.
5. Exhale on your way up.

Remember that the work phase of the movement is the lifting but this doesn’t mean that you should allow the bar to pull you down when lowering the weight. It is important to control the movement in all phases to prevent injuries. So keep your abs engaged and your pelvis tucked. This will create a brace around your spine.

There are several variations of this exercise, which will make the movement slightly different.

Muscles Involved

Dead-lifting engages primarily glutes, hamstrings, quads and lower back muscles, but it also calls for core muscles as stabilizers. However, if you are performing stiff-leg dead-lifts or good mornings, the emphasis is on hamstrings, glutes and lower back muscles. (The quadriceps muscles only come into play when you flex/extend the knees.) Rotation movements (as in cross body dead-lift) also engage the oblique muscles.

Tips for a Proper Form

• Check your posture in the mirror while performing the movement.
• Control the whole movement – avoid jerking the body.
• Keep feet planted on the floor at all times – do not raise the heels. Body weight should be evenly distributed throughout your feet.
• Keep back straight and chest open. Avoid rounding or arching your back – maintain neutral spine.
• Knees should be parallel to each other – do not allow them to collapse inward.
• During the movement, flex hips and knees at the same rate.
• Keep knees aligned over the ankles – you should be able to see your toes when sitting.
• When lifting, use you leg muscles, not your back.
• Engage your abs and tuck your pelvis in to protect your spine.
• Keep the bar close to your body.
• Inhale when you go down; exhale on your way up.

Variations

When it comes to dead-lift, you have quite a few options. If you want a total-body exercise, stick to the classic version presented above, or try the sumo dead-lift which has the advantage of engaging inner thigh muscles too. However, if you are looking for an exercise to target hamstrings and glutes, the stiff-leg dead-lift or the good morning exercise are definitely great alternatives. When performing these exercises, keep your knees slightly bent (don’t lock the knees) and go down as far as it is comfortable for you. It is normal to feel a stretch in the back of your thighs (hamstrings); it will get better as your flexibility improves. More advanced variations are the single-leg dead-lift, which challenges your balance, and the cross-body dead-lift, a dead-lift with a twist motion.

Progression and Challenge

The better options for beginners are the classic or stiff-leg dead-lifts. Good morning is also a good alternative, but because the weight is placed over the shoulders, it should be performed with very light weight. One or two sets of 10 to 12 repetitions, once a week, is enough to get you started. Remember that proper form and body alignment is vital when it comes to safety. Use a mirror to adjust your posture.

Practice these two variations before trying more challenging ones. As your core[1] strength increases, you’ll be able to keep body alignment throughout the movement, making you ready to move on.