One Flashy Movement Which Is Actually Useful

Generally I roll my eyes when I see needlessly complicated exercise variations. Mostly, it’s a marketing trick of under-developed trainers to catch public attention. Thus, you see a lot of famous fitness icons doing absolute nonsense, standing in a yoga pose with one leg on a stability ball, twisting with a shake weight in one hand, the hip circle wrapped around their leg and tossing a med ball against a CrossFit gym warehouse wall. Cute. And pointless.

That said, floor wipers and their variants (video for this one here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxj69nijhlP/) I’ve returned to for myself or clients for a long time because they're genuinely difficult and fun. The floor wipers alone at 65-85% of your usual bench press weight is an overall body tension monster of a movement. Today I added the bar twist with pauses, which is actually just a rest that looks fancy.

Also, note how I’m flexed in the spine with posterior pelvic tilt. This is the mark of true abdominal control. Pay close attention and you’ll see most people have a huge space under the mid back. They have decent strength in hip flexors but WEAK abs. Work to eliminate that.