How Can Hollow Body Hold Exercises Help You Stay Fit?

Several exercises can help you get closer to your fitness goals. Regarding bodyweight core workouts, hollow body hold exercises are the best options to engage your abs and increase your core strength. Hollow body hold exercises are isometric core exercises that stabilize your spine while remaining in a static position.

What you need to know:

What is a hollow body hold?

Hollow body hold exercises work the muscles on the front side of the body, which is called the anterior chain. These muscles include hip flexors, quadriceps, internal and external obliques, and rectus and transverse abdominals. This exercise focuses on maximum muscle tension through your abdominal muscles, making it an excellent move for athletes and fitness fans.

How to do hollow body hold?

Here are the steps that you can follow to do a hollow body hold exercise:

Lie down and extend your arms overhead.
Keep your feet straight and together, and keep your toes pointed.
Tighten your core to draw your ribs towards your pelvis.
Next, raise your feet, legs, and shoulders off the ground.
Keep your lower back flat on the ground.
Start with three holds that last for around 15-20 seconds.

Benefits of the hollow body hold

Here are some of the benefits of practising the hollow body hold:

Increases your overall strength and stability
Prevents lower back pain by strengthening the muscles and improving the body posture
Trains your core to keep your back straight, resulting in a healthy spinal system
Strengthens your spinal system and enables it to stay stable even under heavy load

Variations of hollow body hold exercises

Try the following body gold exercises and their variations to stay fit:

Dead bug

This popular variation of body hold exercises can help you enhance your core strength and abs. This exercise also strengthens the deepest muscles in your body, such as the transverse abdominis and spinal erectors. Here are the steps for doing it correctly:

Lie down with your knees bent to a 90-degree angle and your feet off the ground.
Extend your arms above you and point your fingers towards the ceiling.
Pull your ribs towards the pelvis by pressing your abdominal muscles and hold this position for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
You can add a variation by slowly lowering your leg and opposite arm 6 inches off the floor before returning to the starting position.

Hollow body rocks

Also known as hollow rocks workout, this variation of a body hold exercise requires you to stand firmly on the ground. It strengthens your abs and abdominal muscles and stabilizes your spinal system. Follow these steps to practise this workout variation:

Lie on your back with your knees bent to a 90-degree angle and arms raised towards the ceiling.
As you keep your core engaged, lower your arms over your head and towards the floor, and straighten your feet.
Lift your shoulder and head off the floor.
Now, create a rocking motion with your body by moving your legs towards the ceiling and lowering your head and shoulder towards the floor.

Hollow body plank

This variation of isometric exercise requires you to get in a high plank position to engage your shoulders and arms and strengthen them. A hollow body plank can enhance your core stamina and endurance when practised correctly. Here are the steps you can follow:

Start with facing the floor on your hands and knees.
Extend your legs until you are in a pushup position, and keep your toes in contact with the floor.
Push through the floor until your shoulders are fully protracted and hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Hollow body flutter kick

This variation of hollow body hold exercise focuses on your lower abs, glutes and thighs. Swimmers also use flutter kicks to shed excess fat from their thighs, abs, hips and belly. They can also help improve body posture and relieve lower back pain. Here are the steps for performing it:

While on the ground, extend your legs and arms and lift them about a few inches off the ground.
Flutter your legs up and down while keeping your core strong and lower back pressed to the floor.

Follow these exercises for a strong core that can help you stay fit and active in the long run.

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