Double Dumbell
Swings For Total Abdominal Training
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 Double Dumbell Swings:
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.
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.
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!
