If you’re a fan of core work, you’re probably already used to doing hollow hold variations. But when performing them with an offset load, like Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. and Women’s Health editor-in-chief Liz Plosser did in this 8-minute circuit, you will light your core ablaze.
“I was dripping sweat,” Samuel says in the audio description of the video. “Still am.”
By adding weight to one side of the body, and not the other, you create an offset load. This position make it that much harder to own a solid hollow-body position, according to Samuel. Your abs and obliques will go into overdrive to keep your body balanced to prevent yourself from tipping to one side.
So grab a light dumbbell, weight plate, or even a full water bottle, and get into a hollow-body position with your arms and legs extended, core braced, and lower back pressed firmly into the floor. The weight should be in one hand, and you’ll feel it trying to pull your body to one side. Don’t let it. Samuel is using a 5-pound dumbbell here.
Hold this position for five seconds, then perform five reps of the following exercises: hollow rocks, flutter kicks, and opposite-knee sprinter sit-ups with dumbbell drive. Return to the hollow-hold, switch hands, and repeat.
Rest for 1 minute, and then repeat for a total of 4 rounds. That will add up to the 8 longest minutes ever.
To keep things even, use a different starting arm each time through. If you start to feel your form break, extend your arms a bit higher toward, or stacked right over, your shoulders to shorten the lever that’s weighing on your core. You” have some relief, but it’ll still be plenty hard.
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