Turn up the volume of your workout music, and start doing these twist exercises to get toned abs and waist. Here are 10 twist exercises you can do to shed the flab and get a slim waist. Scroll down!
1. Russian Twists
This is a full abdominal twist, which involves balancing, strength, and isolation. It strengthens the core and cinches the waist by working the oblique muscles. Target: Obliques, hip rotators, lower abs, and upper abs.
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2. Criss-Cross
Criss-cross, also known as bicycle crush, is a crunch exercise that involves a twist. So, you get the benefits of both exercises. It targets your core muscles, strengthens them, and gives you good cardio at the same time. A great way to attack that ab-flab! Target: Obliques, rectus muscles, hip flexors, quads, glutes, and hamstrings.
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3. Windmill
The windmill is a great twist exercise for your abs, obliques, and glutes. You can do it with or without kettlebells. Make sure you start with a lighter weight to prevent injuring your back and wrist. Also, if you have a lower back injury, do not do this exercise. Target: Obliques, lower abs, shoulders, upper back, and glutes.
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4. Plank Hip Twists
This exercise is an absolute must to include in your workout regimen. It targets your lower belly fat, totally hits the muffin top area, and works on your core muscles. It cinches the waist like a corset. Target: Obliques, rectus muscles, lower back, and glutes.
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5. Skater Lunge
Take the regular lunges up a notch by adding a literal twist to them. Skater lunges are great for burning calories, targeting the waist area – especially the side fat – and shaping the hips and legs. Target: Obliques, hip rotators, quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.
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6. Weighted Russian Twists
Remember the Russian twist exercise we did at the beginning? Weighted Russian twists are the same but more challenging. You can hold a dumbbell, kettlebell, weight plate, or a medicine ball. The weight adds resistance to your movement, which makes your obliques work harder and shed the fat faster. Target: Obliques, rectus muscles, and quads.
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7. Standing Bar Twists
Standing bar twists are also known as oblique twists. They work on your shoulders, sides of your upper back, and your abs. They work the difficult areas that most twist exercises cannot reach. It’s a great workout to also get a good upper body warm-up. Target: Obliques, lats, and deltoids (shoulders).
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8. Rotator Disc Twists
Rotator discs are circular, flat discs. They are common gym and home gym equipment that effectively target the ab muscles and help get rid of side fat and belly fat. It is also a fun exercise. You may do it holding a chair or the wall for support. You can also do it without support once you are comfortable and have better balance and coordination. Target: Obliques, lower abs, mid abs, and upper abs.
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9. Banana Twist
This is another similar exercise to the Russian twist. But, it includes sit-ups as well. It is tremendously effective in building core strength, toning, improving balance, and shedding fat from the abdominal area. Target: Obliques, lower abs, upper abs, glutes, quads, and hamstrings.
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10. Medicine Ball Jump Lunge Twist
Another good way to challenge your abs is to add a jump, weights, and upper-body twist to a regular lunge. It is a great full-body workout to burn calories and tone the sides of your belly, glutes, and thighs. Target: Obliques, lower abs, upper abs, glutes, quads, and hamstrings.
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Conclusion
There’s no doubt that getting rid of belly flab is tedious and requires strict dedication. Thankfully, adding twists to your workout routine can help speed up the process. You will work all the ab muscles and get rid of the side fat and the front belly bulge quickly. So, go ahead and start doing these 10 ab twist exercises at least thrice a week. Don’t forget to eat healthy, stay hydrated, and sleep well too! What’s a torso twist? When doing a torso twist, you rotate your entire upper body to the left and right as if you were doing a crunch. It is a dynamic stretching exercise that boosts flexibility, extension, and multi-planar movements. Do standing torso twists work? Standing torso twists target the abdominal and oblique muscles. They help stabilize the spine and warm up the core for an intense workout.
