Overhead Stretch

Muscles worked

The muscles under tension are the rectus abdominis and the obliques, which flex the trunk forward and resist it being pulled into extension or twisted out of line.

A stretch loads them at the far end of the range they normally work in, so the position you hold is itself the resistance.

Nothing travels, but holding the position is not the target muscle’s job alone: the chest adds pushing force at the shoulder; the forearms hold the grip, which is often what gives out first; the lats keep the upper arm drawn in toward the torso.

The triceps take a share of the work as well.

Every exercise for:AbdominalsChestForearmsLatsTriceps

How this movement works

Several joints combine to set the position, and then everything stops. Because the shape is held rather than repeated, the limit is how long the whole chain stays where you put it — not how strong any single muscle in that chain happens to be.

It is filed under stretching, so the target is range of motion rather than force — a position you can settle into and breathe in, held long enough for the tissue to give.

What you need

These train the abdominals too, using equipment this one does not:

• Pallof Presscable
• Plankbody only
• Press Sit-Upbarbell
• Side Bend with Dumbbelldumbbell
• Smith Machine Hip Raisemachine

Difficulty

Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.

Of the 97 abdominals exercises in this database, 69 are listed at beginner level.