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How to do the Barbell Seated Twist

CoreAbsBarbellIntermediate

The barbell seated twist builds rotational core strength that transfers directly to athletic power and spinal stability. Master the controlled mechanics here and you will develop obliques and deep abs that most standard crunching routines simply cannot reach.

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Muscles worked

Primary
AbdominalsObliques
Secondary
Hip flexorsLower back

Step-by-step

  1. Sit upright on a bench with a barbell resting across your upper traps, hands gripping wider than shoulder-width and feet flat on the floor.
  2. Brace your core and sit tall, eliminating any arch or slump in your lower back before you move an inch.
  3. Rotate your torso smoothly to one side until your shoulders are roughly perpendicular to your hips, keeping the movement driven by your obliques not momentum.
  4. Reverse with control back through center and rotate to the opposite side, maintaining the same deliberate tempo throughout.

Common mistakes

  • Using too much weight and swinging the bar with momentum instead of muscular control, fix this by dropping the load and pausing one second at each end range to confirm you own the position.
  • Allowing the lower back to round or the hips to rotate along with the torso, fix this by anchoring your feet firmly and consciously keeping your pelvis locked and square throughout each rep.
  • Placing the bar too high on the neck and compressing the cervical spine, fix this by positioning the bar low across the upper traps just as you would for a low-bar squat.

Pro tip — Focus on initiating the rotation from your bottom rib pulling toward your opposite hip rather than thinking about moving the bar, this cue shifts the work decisively onto the obliques and away from the shoulders and arms.

Sets & reps by goal

Build muscle3–4 sets × 10–15 reps
Get stronger3–4 sets × 6–8 reps
Lose fat / tone3 sets × 12–20 reps

Rest: 60–90 sec between sets.

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