What's one of my least favorite moves in my Pilates class? Hollow hold. It sounds relatively simple—sit on your sit bones and lift your arms and legs, but it's an isometric exercise that's worth the money, and it works the core really hard.
like a lot Best Pilates Abs Exercises, the hollow grip strengthens the abdominal muscles while also exercising the lower back muscles. When done correctly, the hollow plan works the transverse abdominis (the deepest core muscle), the rectus abdominis (the outer “six-pack” muscles) and the obliques, as well as the erector spinae, hip flexors, quadriceps and Inner thigh. To learn more and really dive into the practice, I did three minutes of hollow braces every day for a week—read on to find out what happened.
Looking for more weird and wonderful workout inspiration?read what happened I drank a gallon of water a day for a month, when I do 50 walking planks a day for a month here.
How to Make a Hollow Hold
To do hollow braces with proper form, lie supine on one of the best yoga mat, arms and legs straight. Consider working your abs by drawing your navel toward your spine, lifting your arms and legs and head and neck a few inches off the ground, keeping your chin tucked in to your chest. Stick here.
Make sure to keep your lower back pressed against the mat throughout the hold. If that's too hard, choose dead bugs. (here is how to be a dead bug Use the correct form. ) Or, if you find your back peeling off the mat, place your arms beside your body, pointing toward your feet.
When hollow supports become too easy, you can progress to hollow body rocks, where you rock back and forth while maintaining the position of the support, or use support to add weight adjustable dumbbell Or a weight plate in your hand.
It's a challenging abdominal exercise, but if you have lower back problems, it's worth consulting your doctor or personal trainer before practicing hollow stances.
I've been doing 3 minutes of hollow struts every day for a week – and I'm amazed by the results
To test my core strength, I did three minutes of hollow support every day for a week and here are the results.
Three minutes never felt so long
On the first day of this challenge, I questioned why I set myself a three-minute challenge.This is a long Timing, on the first few days of the challenge, I split the setup into three one-minute holds with short breaks in between.
I also found that I had to really think about my core during this move – it's very easy to get sloppy with your form by being lazy. Your shoulder blades should be off the ground throughout the move, and the lift should come from your stomach, not your arms and legs themselves.
2. I learned to find joy in the shaky core
This one shook me to the core. By the end of the week, I managed to hold on for 3 minutes without rest, but my entire stomach was shaking. I could feel my belly really trying to stabilize my body. The overall goal of this exercise is to keep your body still, and while this one wasn't the one that got my heart rate skyrocketing, I could feel my abs working hard.
3. Improve core strength and exercise inner thighs
Of course, doing any exercise for a week won't have a noticeable effect on your body—visible abs are a product of low body fat, not endless core workouts. (here is How to Calculate Your Body Fat Percentage, and Why It Matters.) That said, I do feel like I'll be able to hold my hollow brace longer before the end of the week.
Like I said in the intro, it's not just an ab workout. I find that my inner thighs also get a huge workout during hollow holds because I focus on keeping my legs extended and my toes pointed.
4. Practice makes perfect (well, kind of)
After doing 21 minutes in one week, do I enjoy the sport? of course not. But by digging into my form and practicing for a week, I became more confident in my hollow grip and even managed to add a set of 3kg dumbbells on the final day of the challenge. As a runner, core strength is important to helping me run faster, get stronger and avoid missing out due to injury, so this is definitely an ab workout that I will incorporate into my routine going forward.
Looking for more abs workout inspiration?see this 15 Minute Dumbbell Ab Workoutplus this Pilates Workouts for Abs and Butt.
