Bodyweight How safe is Twisting Exercises for Core-Strength?

[nyet07]

My abdominal muscles are the primary muscle group I focus on. I used to train my glutes a lot with deadlifts and kettlebell swings but recently I lack access to necessary equipment so I had to change my workout plan.

Now I've been working out calisthenics style. I must say I've seen great improvements in my motor control and body-mind awareness. I haven't increased in muscle size much but types of movements I am able to do have increased considerably. Now I am almost able to do a full muscle up in addition to half front lever and complete low rep Korean dips. My body tends to store fat (I am not a full muscle type person) and has relatively more muscle in my lower body, so proceeding further in any hanging style exercise such as front-lever, back-lever or muscle ups is relatively harder for me compared to people having low body fat and relatively muscular upper body.

I've read most of books of Mr. Tsatsouline and I must say they are the most reasonable ones out there with sufficient logical reasoning why specific training plans work the way they work. Of course just like any book, the books also have some gaps in the information they provide.

Anyways, I've been doing:

-Hanging leg raises,
-Sit-ups (Bullet Proof Abs 2nd edition does not clearly explain the exact difference between "Situps-the right way" and Janda situps mentioned in the book, however, one can nevertheless sense the main issue is eliminating the activation of hip flexors),
-Dragon flags,
-"Jackknife" Push-ups,
-Full Contact Twist,
-Suitcase Deadlifts

for complete abdominal development. (Also a strong core helps more for a muscle-up than strong lats included that coordination between lats and core is good enough.).

A side question:

If Situps incorporate hip flexors more than abdominal muscles then so should the hanging or lying leg raises. Because one lifts his/her legs up and it is the main task of hip flexors(and we know that incorporation of hip flexors should be avoided). There is no information regarding effect of hip flexors in hanging and lying leg raises in Pavel's book. They are just mentioned to be abdominal exercises. But I think they require some extra explanation.

Also in video of Bullet Proof Abs, Pavel states that during execution of hanging leg raises the back should be flat. He doesn't give any explanation as to why.

Original Question:

I now do not have access to stuff like barbells so I've had to eliminate Full Contact Twist and Suitcase deadlift from my workout program. But then I feel that I do not properly train my obliques and instead focus too much on "6-packs". So I started looking for alternative ways that would work my obliques as well. I've come across this workout called "Hanging Leg Twist" in which you hang and bring your torso almost parallel to the ground and start rotating your legs and right and left from your hips. At first it seemed to me that it is the hips that rotates. However, once I tried my spine started "clicking" and had unnatural feeling in my spine. I stopped doing it thereafter.

Has anybody ever incorporated that exercise into his/her workout program? How safe do you think it is? Should I give it a try again?

 

[North Coast Miller]

I stopped doing Russian Twist due to the same lower spinal noises/clicking sensation. I prefer my rotational movements to be upright or with a slight forward lean from the hips.

For oblique work I do better with side to side movements rather than rotational ones.

 

[Kozushi]

1h swings according to the S&S protocol sucked in my midriff fully. It's the ANTI-twist muscles that need to be activating by RESISTING rotation that strengthens them. I'd imagine 1 arm pushups would have a similar effect. The more asymmetrical-resistance the exercise, the better for activating anti-twist muscles throughout the core.

 

[IcyROM]

My abdominal muscles are the primary muscle group I focus on. I used to train my glutes a lot with deadlifts and kettlebell swings but recently I lack access to necessary equipment so I had to change my workout plan.

Now I've been working out calisthenics style. I must say I've seen great improvements in my motor control and body-mind awareness. I haven't increased in muscle size much but types of movements I am able to do have increased considerably. Now I am almost able to do a full muscle up in addition to half front lever and complete low rep Korean dips. My body tends to store fat (I am not a full muscle type person) and has relatively more muscle in my lower body, so proceeding further in any hanging style exercise such as front-lever, back-lever or muscle ups is relatively harder for me compared to people having low body fat and relatively muscular upper body.

I've read most of books of Mr. Tsatsouline and I must say they are the most reasonable ones out there with sufficient logical reasoning why specific training plans work the way they work. Of course just like any book, the books also have some gaps in the information they provide.

Anyways, I've been doing:

-Hanging leg raises,
-Sit-ups (Bullet Proof Abs 2nd edition does not clearly explain the exact difference between "Situps-the right way" and Janda situps mentioned in the book, however, one can nevertheless sense the main issue is eliminating the activation of hip flexors),
-Dragon flags,
-"Jackknife" Push-ups,
-Full Contact Twist,
-Suitcase Deadlifts

for complete abdominal development. (Also a strong core helps more for a muscle-up than strong lats included that coordination between lats and core is good enough.).

A side question:

If Situps incorporate hip flexors more than abdominal muscles then so should the hanging or lying leg raises. Because one lifts his/her legs up and it is the main task of hip flexors(and we know that incorporation of hip flexors should be avoided). There is no information regarding effect of hip flexors in hanging and lying leg raises in Pavel's book. They are just mentioned to be abdominal exercises. But I think they require some extra explanation.

Also in video of Bullet Proof Abs, Pavel states that during execution of hanging leg raises the back should be flat. He doesn't give any explanation as to why.

Original Question:

I now do not have access to stuff like barbells so I've had to eliminate Full Contact Twist and Suitcase deadlift from my workout program. But then I feel that I do not properly train my obliques and instead focus too much on "6-packs". So I started looking for alternative ways that would work my obliques as well. I've come across this workout called "Hanging Leg Twist" in which you hang and bring your torso almost parallel to the ground and start rotating your legs and right and left from your hips. At first it seemed to me that it is the hips that rotates. However, once I tried my spine started "clicking" and had unnatural feeling in my spine. I stopped doing it thereafter.

Has anybody ever incorporated that exercise into his/her workout program? How safe do you think it is? Should I give it a try again?

I know these by the name "Hanging Windshield Wipers". I think they are an amazing abdominal and core exercise. Fairly difficult too.

I think it's important to keep a tight core and breathing and keep the reps low.

I get a clicking sound on the first rep on either side and then no more. I get it by twisting in a chair too so I don't think the exercise itself does it but rather the ROM.

Unlike Russian twist where you use the obliques to twist, this is an anti-twist exercise because gravity forces you to twist and you have to oppose it throughout. Like @Kozushi says, I like this kinda of core training personally.