Now, this one looks just crazy...I fully realize that....
However once you TRY it, you'll be astonished at how strongly your deep core muscles get worked. After my last heavy set of this, I literally crumpled (you'll see that in the video after I stand up).
You'll be doing a single-arm dumbbell press while you're doing a single-arm inverted row with the other arm.
Setting Up For Deep Core Strength Work:
For the setup, I recommend using a bar set on the rails in the power rack so you get a downward slope. It's not 100% necessary (you can use a horizontal bar) but I found it better for grip. The higher rail should be about shoulder height or so.
This end should be about a foot higher than the other end. This angle of the bar is more natural for the exercise because your body will be at an angle, too.
Have a dumbbell ready to go by your feet. Start LIGHT. I'm using a 65 lb dumbbell here but only because I've been doing training like this for a long time.
If you've never done push-pull-torque training, this is going to open up a whole new world of ab training for you...it's a world that gets you very sore when you first get introduced to it (scared to sneeze kind of sore).
Grip the bar about 2/3 of the way up, then grab the dumbbell.
Set it on your thigh. With lighter weight, you can just curl it up to the start position, but once you get past the weights you can curl up easily, this is the best way to go.
Now pull it back into the bottom of the press position. Allow your torso to rotate down and away towards the dumbbell side.
Now pull yourself up with inverted row action with your left arm while pressing the dumbbell up with the other.
One of the major benefits of doing this in the rack like this is that you can push your toes against the bottom cross-bar of the rack. This gives your feet something to anchor against so they don't start flopping around and destabilizing the movement.
This gives you a good view of why you want the angle on the bar...it gives you the same angle as the arc of the movement.
Come all the way up until the bar is by your chin and the dumbbell is fully pressed.
Now lower down (both exercises) all the way until your rowing arm is straight and your body is turned.
Then repeat. I did this weight for 3 reps on each side. You can use a lighter weight and go for more reps, but I wouldn't recommend going higher than 6 reps per side. This one works best as a strength exercise for lower reps, I found.
Then switch sides.
Set the dumbbell down, stand up and regrip the bar with your right hand. Set the dumbbell on your thigh then repeat the same movement.
This view gives you a good idea of how much you want to allow your torso to turn at the bottom.
Now press and pull up.
Try and get the same number of reps as you did on the other side.
I recommend doing this exercise for 2-3 sets. You can use the same weight for each set or work up in weight, if you feel you have to room to do so.
This one WILL destabilize your core for any other heavy training, so don't do this one before you do anything else like that or it will limit your strength in those exercise.
If you like this one, definitely try my original Ab Ripper exercise done with a cable pulldown-row and a dumbbell bench press. That version allows for more weight to be used on the press.
---
Want 90 more unique and challenging exercises to SHRED your core? Check out The Best Core Exercises You've Never Heard Of!
Share This Page...
Want More Exercises Like This?
You'll find them here...
Support