Selectorized Torso Rotation Machine

What you'll gain

• Loads the obliques through rotation with a guided stack.

• The kneeling, handle-fixed layout keeps the upper body quiet so the turn is at the hips and waist.

• Pin selection makes the drill easy to dose for beginners.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. 1

   Kneel on the machine so both knees rest against the padded brace on the rotating footplate.

2. 2

   Grip the two vertical handles at chest height and set a tall, still upper body.

3. 3

   Select a load that lets you turn without yanking the handles or lifting the knees.

4. 4

   Keep the hands, chest, and head facing the same way while the hips and knees rotate to one side.

5. 5

   Pause at the end of a controlled turn, then rotate the lower body back through center.

6. 6

   Repeat to the other side, staying quiet through the shoulders and arms.

Common Mistakes

• Turning the whole upper body with the handles, which dumps the work into the arms.

• Using so much load that the knees lift off the pad.

• Rushing the return so the stack yanks the hips back through center.

• Rounding the trunk instead of staying tall over the kneeling brace.

About This Exercise

Selectorized torso-rotation machines come in more than one layout. The station shown here is the kneeling, handle-fixed type: both hands stay on the vertical grips, the chest stays pointed at the tower, and the knees rest on a padded brace over a rotating footplate. The lower body turns under a quiet upper body, so the obliques work as the trunk and hips rotate against the stack. That is the opposite of the more common seated chest-pad machines that lock the hips and twist the torso. For a catalog this is the machine-collection rotation clip. The rear three-quarter view is required so the obliques on the flank are visible, which a flat rear shot would hide.

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