45-degree torso holds have become some of our favorite positional strength movements over the past few years. Rather than isolating the abdominals, these “core” movements challenge the hip flexors and test the athlete’s or lifter’s ability to respect the length-tension relationship of the abdominals. If you’re looking to build core strength, you’d be doing yourself a huge disservice if you neglect direct hip flexor training.
All the “anti” core exercises that resist unwanted movement are fine (planks, anti-rotation chops/presses, etc.), but this exercise family gives us some variety. The upper body is free to perform plenty of movements at a variety of angles and movement speeds – something that gets lost in many slow-and-controlled “anti” core exercises. And there’s plenty of scalability based on how bent/straight your legs are and the angle at which you hold your torso.
Torso Hold Variations to Build Core Strength
Here are some variations shown in order of difficulty:
1. Torso Hold w/ Arms Across Chest
2. Torso Hold w/ Arms Overhead
3. Torso Hold w/ Overhead Plate Press
4. Torso Hold w/ Diagonal Plate Punch
5. Torso Hold w/ KB Seesaw Press
How and Where to Program These
I like to use 45-degree torso holds where I would normally use more flexion-based abdominal exercises to build core strength. The general rule I follow is:
- Flexion-based core exercises on squat-focused days
- Anti-extension based core exercises on deadlift-focused days
Anecdotally, the lifters I coach feel better with less spinal motion on their deadlift days. Even if you don’t let your back round when you deadlift, the isometric demands of the spinal erectors are ever-present when deadlifting, and the extra flexion during exercises like reverse crunches, hanging knee raises, etc. can be uncomfortable at the tail end of those training sessions. So we’ll lean on more movements like body saws, ab wheel rollouts, plank variations, etc.
For a deeper dive into this topic, check out this article: Core Training for Powerlifters
Torso holds seem to eliminate that issue. So a sample day might look like:
- Deadlifts: Heavy top set of 3-5 reps
- Deadlift variation (paused, deficit, block pull, RDL, etc.): 4-6 sets of 3-5 reps, lighter weight focusing on speed
- Lunges or split squats: 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps/side
- Torso Hold variation: 2-3 sets of 20-30 sec / 2-3 reps shy of failure
