functional exercise: rotational trunk strengthening

yoga book / functional exercises / rotatory rumpfkräftigung

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Last updated: 8 Aug 2025
Level: A

Classification

Classical: functional exercise
physiological: sarcomere length neutral strengthening of the rotators of the trunk

Contraindication

Effects

  • (662) Sarcomere length neutral strengthening of the rotators of the trunk

Preparation

Follow-up

derived asanas:

similar asanas:

Diagnostics (No.)

Varianten

Instructions

  1. Stand in front of a door frame at such a distance that your arm can be stretched to 5 degrees when you press against the door frame from the inside with the palm of your hand or the back of your hand. If possible, build up enough transverse abductor or transverse abductor strength to strengthen the core muscles. To intensify the posture, step a little closer to the door frame so that the elbow joint is bent further and the lever arm is smaller.

Details

  1. Some diseases of the spine, above all disc disease, spondylolisthesis (spondylolisthesis), spinal canal stenosis and neuroforaminal stenosis do not tolerate wide rotations of the trunk. In ethiopathology, however, an inadequate stabilising effect of the autochthonous back muscles will play a role in many cases, so that compatible options for strengthening are desirable. A sufficient number of scalable sarcomere length-neutral exercises are available for the extensor effect of the autochthonous back muscles, which largely work the muscles against the gravity of a large partial body weight, in the case of the cross lift also with additional external weight. There are also good exercises for the lateral flexor aspect of the autochthonous back muscles with trikonasana, ardha chandrasana and vasisthasana, that strengthen the muscles against the gravity effect of a significant partial body weight. In principle, postures such as trikonasana, ardha chandrasana and parsvakonasana are suitable for strengthening the rotational aspect of the spine, although the upper body is already twisted to a certain extent, which is not always compatible. As the asanas mainly work with body gravity and internal resistance, it makes sense to look at functional exercises from strength training. The most obvious exercise, which can easily be translated into a functional exercise without the need for major equipment, is transverse abduction and transverse adduction with a cable pulley, in which both movements can be performed in a seated or standing position, depending on the direction in which the cable pulley is pulled. The upper body can and should be kept completely still. If you translate this into an exercise that can essentially be performed in every yoga school and every household, it becomes pressing in the direction of transverse adduction or transverse abduction against a door frame, whereby considerably more force is available for transverse adduction, after all, the powerful pectoralis major is involved, so that the rotatory counterforce of the autochtonous back muscles together with the rotatory inclined abdominal muscles must also be greater. There is another point in favour of transverse adduction, namely the hand position. If you want to perform a transverse abduction, you either press the back of your hand against the door frame with a supinated forearm, which quickly proves to be very uncomfortable, or you have to turn the forearm from supination into pronation, whereby you must avoid endorotation of the upper arm.
  2. This exercise can be performed in a seated or standing position, but in both cases it is important to ensure that the knee joints are physiological. In the seated position, the rotational force of the upper body is transferred into a rotational tilt of the pelvis, which in most cases and depending on the material of the seat, must also be supported with the feet. This causes varus stress and algus stress in the knee joints, which must be taken into account and avoided if necessary, depending on the existing disorder. In the standing version, it is sufficient to stretch the knee joints solidly so that rotational forces in the knee joint are absorbed by the ligamentous structure of the knee joint. Here too, disorders of the knee joint can lead to discomfort or, in rare cases, contraindicate the posture. In the case of transverse adduction, care must of course be taken to ensure that the elbow joint is not overstretched, but the arm flexors are made to work solidly and maintain a minimal flexion of up to 5 degrees in the elbow joint for safety’s sake. This exercise is therefore also an interesting way to strengthen the arm flexors over a very long sarcomere length. In the case of transverse abduction, the triceps would be responsible for stretching the elbow joint. To be on the safe side, a flexion of 5 degrees should also be maintained here. However, there is then no risk of compression between the olecranon and ulna. Care must be taken to ensure that the hip joints do not inflect and that the lumbar spine does not fall into the hollow back. The shoulder blades should remain solidly depressed. The exercise is described with the elbow joint almost extended, but the lever arm can also be shortened to generate greater rotational forces in the torso, i.e. a greater strengthening opportunity. To do this, move a little closer to the door frame. The rotation of the upper body relative to the door frame plays a role insofar as it determines the sarcomere length and therefore also the maximum force of the transverse adductors or transverse abductors, i.e. also the possible strengthening. With transverse adduction, it should also be borne in mind that an adducted position of the arm cannot be achieved without at least some protraction of the shoulder blades because the range of motion in the glenohumeral joint is exhausted. The arm should be in a 10 to 20 degree transversely abducted position for optimal strengthening and to avoid cramping of the pectoralis major.
  3. The jathara parivatanasana basically strengthens the rotator muscles of the torso, but its effect is exhausted by the firm gravity of the two legs. Scaling towards less strength is possible by bending the knee joints, but not by forcing them further. The advantage of this posture is that it also moderately strengthens the adductors and abductors of the hip joint. The autochondral back muscles contain the rotators in one direction and the antagonist muscles on the contralateral side. This also applies to the oblique abdominal muscles, in which case one layer holds the legs in the posture while the other layer is stretched. If the mere rotation in cases of the above-mentioned disorders of the spine does not already represent undue stress, this is further increased in jathara parivatanasana by the stretched muscle layer. Therefore, a sarcomere length-neutral exercise as described here can be helpful or necessary .