Muscle Ventures Video Analysis

Twisting overhead leg raises with medicine ball work the full abdominals with a bonus emphasis on the obliques due to a twist at the end. You can view our analysis of this exercise either by downloading the Quicktime movie (3.4 MB) or on Google Video without downloading. The video shows me (Bud Gibson) performing the exercise while Nancy Arnold coaches me.

The equipment for this exercise is simple. All you need is a medicine weighing 12 to 15 lbs. In a pinch, you could use a large rock or a light dumbbell. The difficulty of exercise lies in coordinating a series of movements to transition the lower half of your body through a rather large range of motion with your only leverage the 12 lb. or so weight in your hands.

The exercise is performed as follows. Lay flat on the ground. Grasp the ball between your hands and hold it just above your head as I illustrate in the first picture on the left. Then, raise your legs straight up. When they are perpendicular (second picture on the left), you twist your torso so that one of your knees goes over and touches the opposite elbow (third picture on the left). You then lower your legs so that they come down and almost but not quite touch the floor (1st picture on the left again). That way, you maintain constant tension on the abdominals. If possible, repeat at least fifteen to twenty times alternating the knee you touch to the opposite elbow.

There are two major sources of difficulty in this exercise. The first is coordinating the series of movements it takes raise your legs. If you start moving your knees over to the opposite elbow before reaching perpendicular, you will tilt off balance and fall on your side, failing to stress the obliques. To achieve the full effect on the obliques, the twist must come at the end after the legs have passed perpendicular.

The second source of difficulty is that your only leverage is the medicine ball you hold in your hands. The lighter the ball, the harder it is to stabilize the movement.

Additional Links

I believe this exercise to be unique to Nancy and myself. However, I was able to find some comparable exercises and a whole series of medicine ball exercises that may be of interest to readers.

• Shapefit provides a series of medicine ball and other exercises to strengthen the core. This exercise is billed as a medicine ball leg raise but is in fact a simultaneous leg and arm raise to touch in the center.
• EXRX provides a balance training kit for $87 that illustrates a number of core training exercises using the medicine ball.
• Everything Track and Field provides a guide for purchasing a good medicine ball.