In the fitness field and in the iron game, major emphasis is placed on flexion and extension movements in the anterior-posterior plane and movements in a side or lateral plane, which includes adduction and abduction in the shoulder and/or hip joints. There is little to no emphasis placed on rotational force.
As a result, the rotational muscles of the midsection are usually underdeveloped and often become a source of injury. This happens when you inadvertently twist or turn in execution of an exercise, especially when the spine is not held in its normal anatomical position.
For example, in powerlifting, bodybuilding, and weightlifting, almost all of the exercises are done in the anterior-posterior plane. This includes the good morning, dead lift, squat, snatch, clean and jerk, and various cleans. In all these exercises, the rotary muscles of the spine, which include the abdominal obliques and the erector spinae of the lower back are usually isometrically contracted to stabilize the spine and make possible the flexion and extension movements.
If you are involved in one of the iron sports, rotational power is not critical for success in your sport. However, developing rotational abilities is a very important safety factor and can contribute to greater efficiency of the muscles involved in the lifts that you do.
If you are an athlete, development of the rotational muscles is a must. They are the key to effective execution of many skills, especially those of hitting, throwing, and kicking. For example, in the throwing and hitting sports, rotational movements of the hips and shoulders produce thirty to fifty percent of the total force generated in a throw or hit.
If you have equal distribution of force production, you will typically generate about one third of your force from the legs, one third from midsection rotation, and one third from the upper extremities. However, these figures can change depending upon the emphasis that you place on each area in your training.
Rotational power is also important in the martial arts, boxing, and in contact sports such as football. When tackling or blocking, rotational movements are needed to elude or escape a defender. In sports such as basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and other team sports, the ability to twist the shoulders and/or hips is the key to execution of many different actions.
They also play a very important role in quickness, which is based for the most part on your ability to change directions very quickly while in motion. This requires substantial rotation of the trunk to generate maximum speed when making a change.
Common exercises that are typically done to develop rotational power include crunches with a twist, which hardly involve the rotational muscles. In most sports, you need an appreciable range of motion of shoulder and/or hip rotation. Thus, it requires exercises other than those commonly done.
For the abdominals, this includes the reverse trunk twist and Russian twist. The reverse trunk twist is a great exercise for developing midsection flexibility and strength of the abdominal rotational muscles. When you become proficient in the reverse trunk twist, you should graduate to the Russian twist.
The Russian twist is a great exercise that duplicates the shoulder rotation seen in many hitting and throwing skills, as for example, in baseball pitching, baseball and golf hitting, hitting a spike in volleyball, hitting an overhead or tennis serve, and in throwing the discus, and shotput.
When your abdominals are well-developed, you can handle considerable weight in this exercise. The most outstanding athletes are usually shotputters and discus throwers who handle up to fifty pounds in the hands when they rotate through a full 90 degree range of motion to each side.
To develop the rotational muscles of the spine, you should do the back raise with a twist or horizontal shoulder rotations. The bent-over twist can also be done to strengthen the lower back muscles in rotation, but it is extremely difficult to hold correct position for most people.
These exercises emphasize development of the abdominal and lower back (midsection) rotational muscles, which are also involved in flexion and extension of the spine. However, the latter two actions are secondary to the rotational development.
For many bodybuilders, powerlifters, and weightlifters, these can be extremely difficult exercises, mainly because of the lack of rotation in a typical workout routine. Thus, when you attempt them, use caution and work up to them gradually.
For athletes in most individual, dual and team sports, doing rotational exercises is a must. They can be the difference between winning and losing. For more information on execution of these and other exercises, see the book, Explosive Golf the DVD Explosive Golf and the DVD, Specialized Strength and Explosive Exercises for Baseball.