Coach Davies, and anyone else wise to this movement:
I’ve been leaning more and more towards incorporating core and compound lifting movements into my program and getting further away from bodybuilding-style training. The former is suited to my goal of general athleticism while the latter is not. Anyways - I’m curious about the range of motion on the saxon side bends. I did them tonight with a light weight but wasn’t sure first of all where i’m actually bending from, the hip or the middle of the torso? should the movement’s range of motion be determined by the point at which the hip starts to move laterally in the direction opposite of the bend? Thanks.
I think your over-thinking the movement. I guess I can only say when I do them I go for the most range of motion which would be sort of bending both. I follow Pavel’s advice and be sure to flex tight all the surrounding muscles almost 100% and hold my breath also. You will find out just how big a bunch of pussies everyone around you is ( if you don’t already know) when they try it once and only once because “they hurt too much and I don’t want to get injured.”
Of course that depends on your personal rom. Bend from the hip with control. Dont bend forward either and start with a light weight. Ensure you also add the exercises found in my “Real Ab"s” article and the stretching routine from the “Man of Steel” one. In faith, Coach Davies
Thanks, Coach and galvatron for the swift response. I’ll check up on the stretching after I write this. Still practicing the other ab exercises a little before I completely incorporate them. I know ROM is an individual thing, but when bending - the legs should remain basically stable? Its difficult to clarify my question here, but does the image in the ‘real abs’ article show the exercise midway or roughly at the ‘stretched’ portion of the movement? Thanks again.
In the real abs article, the picture of the Saxon side bend shows the model near the end of his ROM. I’d prefer to go a little lighter and try to get a further ROM. I also like to hold a plate above my head instead of dumbells as this allows for a little more ROM, but still really works the midsection.