Exercises You Should Be Doing: Half Kneeling Vertical Pallof Press
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Pallof presses – and all their variations. While I’ve definitely curbed my views with regards to core training and the whole anti-everything mantra most of the fitness industry adopted in recent years (lets be honest: it’s perfectly okay for the spine to go into flexion every now and then. Loaded flexion is one thing, but lets try not to shit an EMG every time someone has the audacity to bend their spine. Life……will…..go…….on), I’d still be remiss not to note that the bulk of my core training, and that of my clients, revolves around stability and preventing “unwanted” motion.
Maybe a year or two ago my good buddy, Nick Tumminello, described a cool Pallof variation called the Vertical Pallof Press, which I thought was a simple – albeit brilliant – twist into the genre.
Fast forward to two weeks ago, another buddy of mine, Philadelphia based strength coach, Andrew Zomberg, asked my thoughts on half-kneeling or even tall-kneeling Vertical Pallof Press variations.
In a nutshell he was curious as to whether or not I’ve tried them or if I saw any efficacy in including them into my programming.
Of course!
Half Kneeling Vertical Pallof Press
What I like most about this variation are a few things:
1. It trains anti-extension.
2. With the half kneeling version, you can “encourage” a bit more posterior pelvic tilt by squeezing the crap out of the kneeling side glute. And when I say “squeezing the crap out of the kneeling side glute,” what I really mean is “squeeze that badboy as if you’re trying to crack walnut.”
3. Additionally, we get an awesome active “stretch” in the kneeling side hip flexor. I put the word stretch in quotations there because for those people who feel as if they have chronically tight hip flexors (despite going out of their way to stretch them to death with little or no improvement), it’s more likely the fact that the hip flexors are pulling “double duty” for an unstable spine. Hence, they feel tight because they’re firing 24/7 to prevent the spine from wrecking itself before it checks itself (Ice Cube fans will enjoy that reference).
In a sense, we could make a solid argument that the reason why many people feel as if they have “tight” hip flexors is NOT because they’re short/stiff, but rather their core is weak and unstable.
If I just blew your mind or if that piques your interest at all, I’d HIGHLY encourage you to check out Dean Somerset’s post on Reasons Why You Should Stop Stretching Your Hip Flexors.
If you’re too lazy to read it: just know that working on core stability could help resolve those “tight” hip flexors of yours.
Outside of those key points, I’d note that the other things to consider would be on the technique side of things:
– Keep your chin tucked (make a double chin).
– As you extend your arms above your head, try to prevent your rib cage from flaring out.
– For those who need to work on improving scapular upward rotation (especially overhead athletes), once your elbows hit shoulder height, you could lightly shrug at the top of the movement.
– Try not to make this a tricep exercise. Those who tend to feel it more in that area are pressing the cable too far outward and focusing on elbow extension. Instead, you need to literally press straight up, preventing the cable from pulling you backward.
For an additional challenge, you can try a one-arm variation
Half Kneeling 1-Arm Vertical Pallof Press
All the same benefits apply here: it trains anti-extension, but because you’re using one arm at a time there’s also a significant anti-rotation component as well.
Too, it’s great for glute activation, encouraging more posterior pelvic tilt, and serves as an active hip flexor “stretch” (seriously, read Dean’s post).
About the only thing it doesn’t do is multiplication tables and buy you dinner.
And there you have it. Try it out today, and let me know what you think!
Comments for This Entry
Dean Somerset
Thanks for the shout-out dude.January 3, 2013 at 12:35 pm |
TonyGentilcore
Anytime brosef!January 4, 2013 at 8:59 am |
Ben Bruno
Good stuff man. I shall try these today.January 4, 2013 at 7:42 am |
TonyGentilcore
Let me know what you think of it.January 4, 2013 at 9:00 am |
Tru Steroids
all stuff here extends to fitness which determine from people who really want to take care about their fitness and special effect here all about is Half Kneeling Vertical Pallof Press.January 4, 2013 at 8:38 am |
jeremybelter
Those look awesome man... Thaks for all your tips!January 4, 2013 at 8:43 am |
jeremybelter
Thanks for the exercise. It looks great.January 4, 2013 at 8:47 am |
Things to Read | Josh Williams
[...] Exercises You Should Be Doing: Half Kneeling Vertical Pallof Press by Tony Gentilcore [...]January 4, 2013 at 11:42 am |
AJ
Squeezing the crap out of your glute is using a high threshold strategy instead of reflexive stabilizationJanuary 5, 2013 at 3:37 pm |
TonyGentilcore
But it also increases the "stretch" in the hip flexor, no? The core activation component of the exercise will also help to "stretch" the hip flexors too by also helping them to turn off. Maybe I could have worded it better, but I hope the main gist is till evident.January 8, 2013 at 9:09 am |
Chip Bleam
Tony, have you tried the reverse for Anti-flexion. I would think that would be beneficial for patients/clients who have flexion intolerance or spend 8+ hours a day in a seated posture. Just wondering if you have any experience with it.January 6, 2013 at 8:35 pm |
TonyGentilcore
Oh no doubt! There are plenty of other pallof variations (as well as various chops, lifts, planks, etc) that work anti-flexion. This variation (vertical pallof press) might be a little cumbersome/awkward here, but it's worth a try I suppose.January 8, 2013 at 9:13 am |
Justin Patterson
I used these today with a client after trying them myself over the past few days til i got it right without feeling it too much in my triceps. With my client I tired every cue and hand/arm position imaginable, yet she still felt it in her tris. What else can I try to correct this? Her arm positioning was slightly angled forward with her elbows just at the brink of full lockout when we finally reduced the tricep stress but she still felt it in her tris.January 9, 2013 at 2:02 pm |
TonyGentilcore
Well, there is the possibility that she's just not ready for this exercise. But outside of that, some cues I like to use are to lean slightly forward and to "press" the rope straight up (not forward)January 10, 2013 at 7:41 am |
Justin Patterson
Thanks Ill give that a shotJanuary 10, 2013 at 12:50 pm |