Performing torso lifts at home and in the gym - options, technique. Raising the torso from a prone position

The main problem when doing core lifts is weak rectus abdominis muscles. To make it easier to understand the reason, we will divide the exercise into two phases:

• twisting, when you lift the upper part of the body off the floor, and the lower back remains pressed to the floor;
• lifting the body when you lift the lower back off the floor and move into a sitting position.

In the first phase, the contraction of the rectus abdominis muscle pulls you forward.

First phase. muscleandmotion.com

When the lower part of the spine is lifted off the floor, the hip flexor muscles are involved in the work: the iliopsoas muscles, the rectus femoris (one of the heads of the quadriceps), the sartorius muscles, and the tendons of the wide fascia of the thigh. Due to them, the body bends at the hip joint, and you move into a sitting position.

Second phase. muscleandmotion.com

Strong abdominal muscles twist the pelvis in the lifting phase so that the load from the lumbar spine is relieved and the exercise becomes safe.

Correct exercise. muscleandmotion.com

What happens if your abs are weak? After the twisting phase, you cannot hold the core with the rectus abdominis muscles and try to rise with the hip flexors. The pelvis moves backward, the lower back flexes, and compression of the vertebrae is created. The iliopsoas muscle pulls the vertebrae forward, disrupting the neutral position of the spine, which negatively affects its health.

Improper exercise performance. muscleandmotion.com

In reality, correct and incorrect techniques look something like this:

If you do several approaches incorrectly, you may feel pain in the lumbar spine. And if you already have back problems, then you will only exacerbate the situation.

How to fix it

Replace ups with a twist or bar

Instead of lifting the body, do twists without lifting the lower back from the floor. This will protect the spine from injury and will strengthen the rectus abdominis muscles.

However, twisting has its own danger. This time we are talking about tension in the cervical spine. Some beginners push their necks forward a lot. Repeated repetitions of this exercise plus working at a computer with constant tension in the cervical spine - and training can turn into pain. But there is a way out.

When doing curls, try to keep your neck relaxed, do not pull your chin to your chest.

You can also replace the body raises with or pulling the knees to the chest while hanging on the horizontal bar.

Raise the body slowly

If you slow down the repetition too much, you simply won't be able to stretch yourself with your hip flexors. In addition, slow body raises are a great option for working out the press. So he will strain much more than during fast or sudden movements.

There is an interesting variation on this exercise - a slow twist with arms above your head and straight legs. Lie on your back, straighten your legs, stretch your arms over your head and begin to twist, lifting the body. The goal is to complete the exercise as slowly as possible. After straightening, begin to descend, too, very slowly and, if possible, linger at the point where your muscles feel the most tension.

That's all. Do the exercises correctly, and you will protect yourself from injury in the gym and during.

The main problem when doing core lifts is weak rectus abdominis muscles. To make it easier to understand the reason, we will divide the exercise into two phases:

• twisting, when you lift the upper part of the body off the floor, and the lower back remains pressed to the floor;
• lifting the body when you lift the lower back off the floor and move into a sitting position.

In the first phase, the contraction of the rectus abdominis muscle pulls you forward.

First phase. muscleandmotion.com

When the lower part of the spine is lifted off the floor, the hip flexor muscles are involved in the work: the iliopsoas muscles, the rectus femoris (one of the heads of the quadriceps), the sartorius muscles, and the tendons of the wide fascia of the thigh. Due to them, the body bends at the hip joint, and you move into a sitting position.

Second phase. muscleandmotion.com

Strong abdominal muscles twist the pelvis in the lifting phase so that the load from the lumbar spine is relieved and the exercise becomes safe.

Correct exercise. muscleandmotion.com

What happens if your abs are weak? After the twisting phase, you cannot hold the core with the rectus abdominis muscles and try to rise with the hip flexors. The pelvis moves backward, the lower back flexes, and compression of the vertebrae is created. The iliopsoas muscle pulls the vertebrae forward, disrupting the neutral position of the spine, which negatively affects its health.

Improper exercise performance. muscleandmotion.com

In reality, correct and incorrect techniques look something like this:

If you do several approaches incorrectly, you may feel pain in the lumbar spine. And if you already have back problems, then you will only exacerbate the situation.

How to fix it

Replace ups with a twist or bar

Instead of lifting the body, do twists without lifting the lower back from the floor. This will protect the spine from injury and will strengthen the rectus abdominis muscles.

However, twisting has its own danger. This time we are talking about tension in the cervical spine. Some beginners push their necks forward a lot. Repeated repetitions of this exercise plus working at a computer with constant tension in the cervical spine - and training can turn into pain. But there is a way out.

When doing curls, try to keep your neck relaxed, do not pull your chin to your chest.

You can also replace the body raises with or pulling the knees to the chest while hanging on the horizontal bar.

Raise the body slowly

If you slow down the repetition too much, you simply won't be able to stretch yourself with your hip flexors. In addition, slow body raises are a great option for working out the press. So he will strain much more than during fast or sudden movements.

There is an interesting variation on this exercise - a slow twist with arms above your head and straight legs. Lie on your back, straighten your legs, stretch your arms over your head and begin to twist, lifting the body. The goal is to complete the exercise as slowly as possible. After straightening, begin to descend, too, very slowly and, if possible, linger at the point where your muscles feel the most tension.

That's all. Do the exercises correctly, and you will protect yourself from injury in the gym and during.

] Exercise Description

Lying Upper Body Raise
Twisting (eng.Crunch)
Exercise technique
Exercise type:
Motion :
Kinematic chain:	open
What muscles work
Target muscles:
Subsidiary muscle:
Performance
Inventory:
Execution options:	Classic crunches on the floor twisting with rotation twisting on a bench with a downward slope twisting on the block reverse crunches options with fixed legs Crunches in the simulator Fitball crunches Twisting with body turns Twisting with turning the body Twisting with lifting the body on an incline bench Double twist Two-stage twisting Diagonal twist Straight twist Combined twisting Side crunches Reverse curl on the ball
Complexity:
Advantages:
Effective Abs Exercise for both the novice and professional does not require a lot of sports equipment.
Flaws:
without an effective diet, the result of training cannot be seen

In an exercise that lifts the upper torso on the back, the abdominal muscles act as mobilizers. It is helpful to include exercise options in any exercise program for developing your abdominal muscles. (Note: Inelastic extensor muscles of the back, such as the erector spine, will not allow for maximum contraction and full range of motion.)

Raising the upper torso while lying on your back with bent legs

Exercise characteristics

• Additional exercise
• Isolated
• Traction
• With own body weight
• Beginner and advanced fitness levels

Brief description of the exercise

Lift your upper body slowly. Lift your shoulder blades off the floor, and leave the lower back still. Pause, return to starting position and repeat the exercise. (Keeping your arms crossed on your chest will make the exercise easier, but without the support of your head with your arms, unnecessary tension in your neck muscles will not be relieved.)

Stabilizing muscles

• Abdominal muscle group.
• Neck: Sternocleidomastoid muscle.

INITIAL POSITION

• Lying on your back with your legs bent at the knees with your feet on the floor.
• Hands behind your head.

• Do not move your neck or chin when doing the torso lift. Keep your chin slightly down and neutral with the cervical spine.

• Do not use the strength of your arms to lift your torso. Use an isolated movement of the abdominal muscle for this.

• Don't slouch. Keep your chest straight and your shoulder blades pulled together.

Lying on your back with bent legs[

Lying on your back with bent legs

Exercise characteristics

• Main exercise
• Combined / multi-joint
• Traction
• Open circuit
• With own body weight
• Intermediate to advanced fitness levels

Brief description of the exercise

Lift your upper body slowly. Finish lifting and bending your torso by pulling your upper torso towards your knees. Pause, slowly lower yourself to the starting position and repeat the exercise.

Initial position

• Lying on your back with legs bent at the knees, feet pressed to the floor.
• Hands behind your head.
• Keep your neck in a neutral position.
• Maintain abdominal tension at all times.

Tips for correct exercise technique:

• Do not use the force of inertia. Perform a slow, controlled movement at full amplitude.

• Do not move your neck or chin while lifting your torso. Keep your chin slightly tilted down and in a neutral position in relation to the cervical spine.

• Do not use the strength of your arms to lift your torso. Must be used to perform an isolated movement of the abdominal muscles

• Don't slouch. Keep your chest straightened and your shoulder blades brought together.

• Exhale as you move up.

• It is preferable to do fewer reps without fixing the lower limbs than more reps with a partner or fixed legs. Holding your legs will generate an inertial force as your speed increases, leading to increased stress on your lower back as you lift your torso. This can injure the lower back.

Motion analysis	PHASE 1 First plus or minus 30 ° amplitude of trunk movement	PHASE 2 Remaining range of motion, including raising the lower back
	Spine	Hip
Directions of movement in the joints		Up - flexion, Down - extension
Mobilizing muscles	Rectus and oblique abdominal muscles	Iliopsoas, Rectus femoris
Stabilizing muscles	Neck: Sternocleidomastoid muscle Shoulders: Serratus anterior muscles, Rhomboid muscles and lower trapezius muscles	Neck: Rectus and oblique muscles of the abdomen, Sternocleidomastoid muscle Shoulders: Serratus anterior muscles, Rhomboid muscles and lower trapezius muscles

Raising the body from a prone position

Raising the body from a prone position belongs to the category of additional. This is an isolated open circuit traction exercise, which involves the work of the athlete only with his own body weight. To complete it, an initial level of training is required at least, which does not exclude the inclusion of lifting the torso from a supine position in the program of bodybuilders with an advanced level of body pumping.

When performing this exercise, the abdominal, sternocleidomastoid, anterior dentate, rhomboid and lower part of the trapezius muscles work as a mobilizing and stabilizing muscle groups. Therefore, lifting the trunk from a prone position is standardly included in programs for the development of abdominal muscles.

The exercise can be performed in two basic leg positions. In both cases, it means lifting the body from a prone position with legs bent at the knees, however, depending on the level of training, fixation of the feet on the floor with the help of a partner or a projectile is used. We will talk about the technique of their implementation below.

Execution technique

The starting position that the athlete needs to take is lying on his back. In this case, the legs, as mentioned above, are bent at the knees. The athlete's arms should be behind the head and the neck should be kept in a neutral position. The abdominal muscles are constantly tense. The starting position is accepted.

For the direct implementation of the exercise, it is necessary, slowly lifting the shoulder blades from the floor, to raise the upper body. The movement does not touch the lower back. In the raised state, you need to gain a foothold for a few seconds, and then also slowly return to its original position. It is worth repeating that even in the starting position, the abdominal muscles must be tense, otherwise the effect of the exercise can be significantly reduced.

An important and often overlooked point is the correct position of the neck and arms. The neck muscles do not need to tense when lifting the trunk from a prone position. This has no effect other than the possibility of earning micro-fractures. That is why, when taking the starting position, the hands are placed under the neck. If you cross them over the chest, the exercise will take less strength, but some of the effect and support of the neck muscles will be lost.

Raising the torso from a supine position is often not popular among self-taught athletes. This is due to the fact that not everyone achieves the set results, although the number of approaches and repetitions significantly exceeds the recommended ones in the programs.

The point here is not at all in the individual physiology of the athlete's body, but in the high-quality performance of the exercise. In order to understand exactly what a mistake can be made, here are some basic recommendations for the correct training of the abdominal muscles. So:

• Do not use inertia, but perform the movement at full amplitude slowly, controlling each stage.
• When lifting the body, the chin and neck should be in a neutral position and motionless, their tension takes away extra strength.
• Raising the trunk occurs only due to the tension of the muscles of the trunk, the strength of the arms in this case is not used, but is directed to maintain the neck in a neutral position.
• When performing the exercise, the chest should be straightened; this can be controlled by the shoulder blades brought together.
• When moving up (lifting), it is best to inhale.

This exercise is of the type in which the number of repetitions and approaches is far from the first place. It is much preferable to perform fewer lifts with unsecured feet, but slowly and with optimal muscle tension, than quickly, due to inertia, to complete all repetitions. In addition to the fact that this will not have an effect, when doing this, the likelihood of getting a back injury increases.