RST FitKit - Core Rotation
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Bad back or lack of power? Let's strengthen that core and kill two birds with one stone!
Hey guys, RST instructor Damien Taglone here, here to talk about core rotation today.
So we have a series of about three exercises that we're going to get into that are involving heavy core rotation.
Obviously if you guys have been following the website, the second bit in the RST five step is going to be core rotation.
So it is in our best interest to maximize our potential with tightening up those abdominal muscles and making sure they're nice and strong for numerous reasons.
Effective movement patterns and injury prevention are two of the biggest that we're kind of after today.
So we're going to go over the series of these three exercises and how to advance them, how to digress them if they're too difficult.
But enjoy the series.
We have this kit online and it is fantastic for this stuff.
So first thing we're going to do is a kneeling oblique rotation.
So I have this band set up maybe about shoulder height here.
It really is not going to make a big difference if it's shoulder height or hip height on this one.
You kind of just judge it with your hands here and kind of put it in the position that it needs to.
So I'm going to put it right in the center of my chest to start with.
And I have a little bit of resistance on here.
I don't have a ton.
I'm using the green band.
If I want to make this more difficult, then I can double up the bands.
I could use the red bands here to advance these movements.
But for demonstration purposes here, I'm just going to go with a nice light band.
So I'm on my knees.
I'm going to push my hips all the way forward, squeeze my butt.
I want to make sure my belly button is pulled in all the way through my back.
So I'm going to start this motion by just putting this out right in front of my chest.
And this is the goal for rotation is when you rotate, you want to effectively use these guys to rotate, not your shoulders and certainly not by pushing with your arms.
So I'm going to start right in a good position, hips all the way forward.
So I'm creating a lot of stability with my hips and my glutes.
So I'm going to squeeze my belly button in and I'm going to think about pulling my shoulder behind my head.
Okay.
I'm not going to think about what I'm doing with my arms here.
I'm only going to think about my shoulder blades sliding down and into my spine to effectively give me that rotation I need to.
Okay.
So it looks something like this.
Squeeze the butt, abs, arms extended.
So I want my shoulder blades depressed down.
I'm going to think about me pulling the shoulder behind my head.
I want to keep my chin forward as I do this as well.
So nice and tight and back in.
Okay.
So I certainly feel this in the obliques.
One checkpoint for you here is going to be when you rotate and you're pulling that shoulder behind your head, check your checkpoints here.
So if I look center down, this is still in the center of my chest.
Okay.
So this one is not super difficult.
A way to advance this and throw some legs in here is we're going to get into a static lunge.
So from this position, I'm going to put my legs at 90 degrees.
So from the side, this leg angle is 90.
This leg angle is going to be 90.
Most importantly, I want to keep my hips forward and I want to keep this knee directly underneath my hip.
So we're here, getting myself in that right position.
I'm going to come up just on my back knees off the floor, smidge.
Same idea.
I'm going to start right here in the middle.
So I already feel my glutes, my hamstrings, my quads, my legs are really firing on this one.
Arms are straight.
I'm going to think about pulling the shoulder behind my head and then back.
So on this one, we're doing 10 reps on each one of these exercises.
So suggestion here would be after five reps, change the leg.
Okay.
So we've been kneeling, lunging, and the last one is going to be in a squat variation here.
So feet are going to be a little bit outside shoulder width.
Weight's going to be loaded in my ankle.
It's going to hinge back, push my knees out.
And I want to think about getting my quads to be parallel to the floor.
So this is an advanced movement here.
Not everybody's going to be able to do this, but if you are here, go ahead and try this one for a challenge.
Nice and tight.
I'm going to rotate again and back in.
Okay.
So three sets, 10 repetitions on each one of these guys for the oblique rotations.
Okay.
All right guys, onto our second exercise of the core rotation series.
We're going to do low to high chops.
So So it kind of is just a little bit more advanced than the kneeling and the lunging and the squatting.
This is going to be a low to high variation.
So we're just hitting some different angles in the abdominal muscles here.
So what I'm going to do is set the pulley nice and low.
I'm going to start soft knees here.
I'm not in a full squat, but I still want to maintain good inches outside of neutral joint alignment.
So, neutral joint alignment is going to be your hip width, two inches outside of that loading the ankles, soft knees.
So I'm going to start this exercise by bringing my chest at the pinpoint here.
So first thing I'm going to do is think about shifting my weight, and then I'm going to pull my hip back to engage this oblique.
So my hips are about 45 degrees this way.
So I feel this tension.
The next thing I'm going to do is keep my arms straight and bring it up nice and high.
Okay.
So a lot of people do this one incorrect.
You have to engage this hip first so we can coil up all these muscles, and then we can come across.
So soft, boom, hips are going to be over first.
I have tension in this glute, my obliques are firing, and then I'm going to come across.
Hips.
Same recommendation is going to be three sets of 10 repetitions each side.
All right, guys.
On to our third exercise.
It's going to be our high to low variation of our wood chop.
Basically piggybacking off of the same exercise we just did with this low to high pulley.
Yet again, we're just hitting some different angles for the oblique muscles to be challenged.
So I have it up fairly high, maybe a little bit higher here.
I have it above my head.
That's a good starting point.
So take it back.
Soft knees again.
Same position that you were in the last exercise.
So I'm going to start by keeping my arms extended with a little bit of tension on the band.
I'm going to coil the hips over.
So yet again, 45 degrees, kind of facing this way.
And then I'm going to go high to low.
Hips are going to open all the way back up.
I'm going to engage the hips.
Soft knees.
Hips are over.
Arms stay straight.
And then down.
Hips.
Arms.
Hips.
Arms.
Okay.
As I'm doing this, guys, still, I'm making sure this stays center of the chest.
As I rotate, I'm not pushing across with my arms.
My shoulders aren't involved at all.
I'm effectively rotating with my trunk.
Robert
Chuck