Swing,
swing, swing your way to better abs! Sure, it sounds like
a late night informercial but in this case, it's actually
going to get you an extremely intense ab workout! I'm going
to tell you how to use momentum to cinch up your core like
the steel corset I mentioned.
Imagine
a cross-country skier. Now focus on the alternating action
of the arms. When the left one goes forward, the right one
goes back. Then the right goes forward and the left goes back,
all in a very rhythmic movement.
Plant
that image of the skier in your head. Now put a couple of
dumbells in that skiers hands instead of poles!
In a nutshell,
with this exercise you're going to be doing cross-country
skiing with your arms while holding dumbells in your hands.
Sounds easy, right? On paper, sure. In reality, you're going
to be in for a shock!
So why
is this weighted skiing movement good for the abs?
Well,
first think about where the tension (from the dueling momentum
of the dumbells moving in opposite directions) is going through:
the core. As one dumbell is swinging down, the other is swinging
up and it falls to the deep muscles of the core to not only
stabilize the spine and body but to also provide muscular
force to help keep those dumbells swinging.
This opposing
torque on the abs results in a TREMENDOUS tightening of the
deep muscles of the core, especially when both dumbells are
at the bottom of their swings and heading back up. All the
momentum in those dumbells is now going to go directly through
your core.
The bonus:
when you do the exercise, it will affect your ENTIRE body
(I can promise you that!), giving you the benefits of interval
training in addition to the direct effects on the abs.
How To Do It:
First,
pick up two dumbells, one in each hand, and stand up straight.
Start fairly light (use approximately what you can do for
10 to 12 reps on the dumbell curl) - you will be working your
way up to heavier weights as you get stronger and more experienced
with the exercise.
Keep your
feet close together (a few inches apart at the most). If your
feet are set too wide, the dumbells will contact your thighs
at the bottom of the movement. Keeping the feet closer together
also forces the abs to do more of the stabilizing as your
body can't rely on the legs to absorb as much of the momentum
of the swinging dumbells.
This exercise,
in order to get a good swing going (especially with heavier
dumbells), will require a carefully timed dip in the knees.
So on
your very first rep, start by dipping slightly in the knees
then popping back up. As you pop back up, use this momentum
to start your right dumbell swinging forward and up and your
left dumbell swinging back and up.
As the
dumbells start to come back down, dip your knees down again.
As your left hand swings forward and your right hand swings
back, pop back up strongly again.
You are
using your legs to add momentum to the dumbell swings, getting
them up higher and giving you the ability to use heavier dumbells.
Repeat
this dip and pop up EVERY time the dumbells come down to the
bottom and start to come back up.
As you
do this exercise, try not to let your torso twist back and
forth much. Do your best to keep your shoulders and hips square
and unmoving so that all the torque goes through the core
and you don't get any sharp twisting movements in the spine.
Your shoulders WILL move somewhat (there is no getting around
it) but by trying to keep still, you will minimize the movement.
Keep your
arms rigid and locked into position as you swing the dumbells
up and down. For height, you want to aim for about shoulder
height in front of you (similar to a front delt raise) and
a little lower behind you (the mass the triceps will stop
the range of motion behind you). Keep control of the weight
and your torso throughout the movement - no wild swinging.
Exhale forcefully each time you pop up (imagine as though
you're trying to blow the dumbell forward).
If the
dumbells are too light and you find the exercise is not challenging
your abs after a few reps, increase the weight.
Keep going
for as long as you can with good form. When you can't swing
the dumbells very high or you feel your core strength starting
to give out (i.e. your shoulders and hips start twisting too
much for your core to control), stop the swinging and set
the dumbells down.
At this
point, you're going to be huffing and puffing like crazy -
this exercise works not only your entire upper body, but also
involves your lower body strongly each time you use your legs
to pop up. Cross-Country Skiing is one of the most demanding
total-body cardio exercises you can do...now you're doing
it with weights!
So how
heavy should you go with this exercise? That will depend on
how strong your core is (work up to it - don't start heavy!)
and how heavy your dumbells go! You can build up to some very
good weights with this exercise - I've personally gone up
to a pair of 85 lb dumbells.
The more
weight you can safely use with this exercise, the stronger
and more powerful your entire core area is going to get.
Single-Arm Variation
Looking
for another unique challenge? Try the Dumbell Swing exercise
holding only one dumbell to one side. Hold your other arm
wide to the other side (to help counterbalance) and use it
to add momentum to swinging the dumbell up. Do not dip your
knees with this variation - you should use trunk rotation
and help from swinging your free arm to get the dumbell moving.
Here's
a trick you can try with it: when you swing the dumbell to
the top of the arc, try and hold it there for a second. That
brief effort to stop the dumbell at the top will hit the obliques
HARD simply because, more than likely, you won't be able to
overcome the intertia of the dumbell and actually hold it
up. But at that moment when you try and stop it, the obliuqes
are going to be hit with a VERY strong eccentric contraction
in their effort to try and stop the dumbell.
With the
one-arm variation, shoulder and hip rotation is desirable.
Since you don't have the opposing force on the other side
(or the dipping of the legs), use rotation in your waist to
help accelerate the dumbell forward and up.
-----
Conclusion:
The Double
Dumbell Swing is one of the powerful core-power exercises
you can do. It's extremely practical and VERY functional,
especially for improving sports performance. If you've got
lower back issues, I wouldn't recommend these exercises, however,
as there will be a lot of torque going through the entire
core area.
Give the
Double Dumbell Swing a try get ready to cinch up your steel
corset!
Double
Dumbell Swings
