Let's get right to it...here's what it looks
like...



And yes, it looks exactly like I'm cross-country skiing
while holding onto dumbbells..so how does that work
the core?

Well, as one dumbbell is swinging down, the other is
swinging up . The deep muscles of the core must
activate strongly to stabilize the spine and protect it
from the opposing forces that the swinging dumbbells
are creating.

This opposing torque on the abs results in tremendous
elastic/plyometric workload on the deep muscles of the
core, especially when both dumbbells are at the bottom
of their swings and heading back up.

All the momentum of those dumbbells swinging is going
directly through your core.


How To Do It:

First, pick up two dumbbells, one in each hand, and
stand up straight. Start LIGHT the first time you do it
until you get a feel for the exercise.

You will be working your way up to heavier weights as
you get stronger and more experienced with the exercise.

Keep your feet close together (a few inches apart at
the most). If your feet are set too wide, the dumbbells
will contact your thighs at the bottom of the movement.

Keeping the feet closer together also forces the abs to
do more of the stabilizing as your body can't rely on the
legs to absorb as much of the momentum of the
swinging dumbbells.

In order to get a good swing going, this exercise will
require a carefully timed dip in the knees.

So on your very first rep, start by dipping slightly in the
knees then popping back up. As you pop back up, use
this momentum to start your right dumbbell swinging
forward and up and your left dumbbell swinging back
and up.



As the dumbbells start to come back down, dip your
knees down again. As your left hand swings forward
and your right hand swings back, pop back up strongly
again.



You are using your legs to add momentum to the
dumbbell swings, getting them up higher and giving
you the ability to use heavier dumbbells.

Repeat this dip and pop up EVERY time the dumbbells
come down to the bottom and start to come back up.




As you do this exercise, try not to let your torso
twist back and forth much.

Do your best to keep your shoulders and hips square
and unmoving so that all the torque goes through the
core and so that you don't get any sharp twisting
movements in the spine.

Keep your arms rigid and locked into position as you
swing the dumbbells up and down. For height, you
want to aim for about shoulder height in front of you
and a little lower with the dumbbell behind you.

Keep control of the weight and your torso throughout
the movement - no wild swinging. Exhale forcefully
each time you pop up (imagine as though you're trying
to blow the dumbbell forward).

Keep going for as long as you can with good form.
When you can't swing the dumbbells very high or you
feel your core strength starting to give out (i.e. your
shoulders and hips start twisting too much for your
core to control), stop the swinging and set the
dumbbells down.

So how heavy should you go with this exercise? That
will depend on how strong your core is and how heavy
your dumbbells go! You can build up to some good
weights...I've personally gone up to a pair of 85 lb
dumbbells and that was pushing it.

Overall, this is an AMAZING core exercise for developing
power for punching, kicking and running.

---

And this is ONE exercise pulled from my book "The Best
Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of!"...a collection
of some of the most unique and insanely effective ab
exercises you've NEVER seen before!

Nick Nilsson
The "Mad Scientist of Muscle"