Your Chest and Hips just want to be Free

Alright friends, so I have to devote at least some space to actual fitness knowledge. For today I'll hold back on the many sordid tales of lockerroom debauchery and blurry boundaries of the personal trainer realm.

Today's focus is on the part of the body most mentioned when I first meet somebody interested in training: their midsection. Abs, tummy, belly - you know the place. It's the single most featured part of the body on the faceless profile pics that closeted guys use online and it's the site on most people's body where so much war is waged on fat that it makes the actual Battle of the Bulge seem minor in comparison.

There is a lot to say about this part of the body but today's focus is on that region's ability to move. Your chest and hips are not one unit, they are independent chunks of your body - but so much we do limits our flexibility between the two. Most people are just huge stiffies - what I am asking you to do is to increase the range of motion that your chest has, independent of your hips. The primary muscles involved are your Transverse Abdominus for stability and your Internal and External Obliques for movement and strength.

Before even thinking about this concept you should have mastered the "drawing in" maneuver. You'll need to be able to engage your Transverse Abdominus, an ultra thin but wide belt-like muscle that basically holds in your guts. It's the deepest layer of the "core" muscle group and it's responsible for providing the stability and erect humanoid posture we've been into since we tossed off the whole ape scene eons ago.

Let's try something. Sit up nice and tall in your chair, feet flat on the floor shoulder width apart. Exhale a nice long breath and pull that belly button back toward your spine and press your lower back closer to the back of the chair. Now do it again, but this time -- don't let your chest move down, keep your shoulders and chest nice and tall - you should feel like your abs are stretching long while tightening closer. Ideally you'll also feel a slight pull on your pelvis. Hold this position for the entire time you exhale, then relax just that midsection while you inhale. Do this for a minute or so. Come on - nobody will know you're doing it - it's ok to have good posture.

Alright. So keeping that in mind - I want you to lift your arms up as if you were hugging somebody. Clasp your hands together. Check to see that your shoulders are not rising. Now inhale and twist to the right, keeping your hips squared front and your feet on the floor. Exhale and twist back to the front, pulling your belly button back like we did a minute ago. Repeat on the left.

This is an important stretch and core development exercise. Once you have done it seated, you can do it on the ground but this time keeping your shoulder/chest complex stationary while you move your hips from side to side, commonly known as the Hip Crossover.

This is a "pre-hab" exercise that serves as a good warmup for some hardcore ab exercises. As we get older we get stiffer - and your ability to move your chest independent of your hips allows you greater performance, reduces lower back pain, and allows you to work those sexy oblique muscles that run diagonally across your midsection.

For any advanced readers, I suggest the side plank twist to achieve these same results - increased stability of the pillar and increased strength and movement in the obliques. The picture of the guy in red shorts should help you - I happen to think it's a really good image - one that keeps me very interested in the exercise. Good luck.