You're going to be combining an excellent anti-rotation exercise, called the Pallof Press, with a "six-pack" exercise called the Abdominal Sit-Up.
Each of these exercises on their own are very effective...put them together and it's like magic...and it will tighten your waist like crazy.
How to Shrink Wrap Your Waist With This Pallof Press Variation:
First, you'll need a little bit of equipment...a rolled-up gym towel and either a low-pulley cable machine or a training band. Either one will work just fine...I'll be using the pulley for the demo.
Set the rolled up towel beside the pulley (about a foot away). Set a LIGHT weight on the pulley or use a thin band. You don't want heavy resistance for this one. I've set the stack to just 2 notches down. Going too heavy will actually work against the exercise and the training effect we're going for.
Lie down with the towel in the small of your back, pretty much right on the waistband of your shorts or pants. Hold the cable handle in both hands, at your chest. The weight stack should be up and already providing resistance.
Your feet should be together, with your knees apart (like a frog stance). This takes the hip flexors out of a direct line of pull, minimizing their contribution to the exercise.
Now the fun part...
Come up into a sit-up...and at the SAME time, press/push the cable handle away from your body (this is the Pallof Press).
The towel in your lower back changes the sit up from a hip flexion exercise to more of a spinal flexion exercise (which is what the rectus abdominis, aka. the six-pack abs, do). This exercise puts massive tension on the core on it's own but doesn't work the anti-rotational function of the deep muscles (the obliques and transversus).
THAT is where the Pallof Press comes in.
Normally, the Pallof Press is done standing or kneeling...you just move the cable handle from your chest and straighten your arms. The lateral pull of the cable engages those deep core muscles.
It's an excellent exercise...
...and now we've added it to a KILLER exercise that is ALREADY engaging those same muscles as trunk stabilizers.
Come all the way up to the top of the sit-up, keeping your lower back in contact with the towel. At the top, your arms should be fully extended for maximum anti-rotational torque on those deep muscles.
THIS is the "money" part of the exercise.
And I don't care how strong your core is...this combination will CHALLENGE you.
Lie back down under control, bringing the handle back into your chest as you do, then repeat. Do as many reps as you can while keeping good form (likely between 4-8 reps).
Then switch around and work the other side.
I would recommend doing at least 2 sets of this exercise (or 4). One the second set, start with the side you finished with on the previous one in order to keep the workload even (you'll likely get fewer reps on the second side you work in the set).
When you're done, you will feel those deep muscles of your core "shrink wrapping" inside of you.
It's a very weird feeling but you'll truly know this exercise is working!
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Want 90 more unique and challenging exercises to SHRED your core? Check out The Best Core Exercises You've Never Heard Of!
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Want Another Combo Exercise Like This?
It sounds horrible but it's actually VERY effective, combining a push and a pull at the same time as the torque goes directly through the core.
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