Russian twist
A rotational core exercise where you twist your torso from side to side while seated and leaning back.
Overview
The Russian twist is a rotational core exercise. Sitting with knees bent and leaning back slightly, you rotate your torso from side to side, tapping the floor or a weight beside each hip. The twisting motion emphasises the obliques along the sides of the trunk.
It can be done with bodyweight or by holding a dumbbell or kettlebell for more of a challenge, and lifting the feet off the floor makes it harder still. Controlled rotation, rather than fast swinging, keeps the focus on the core.
The movement
- 1Sit with knees bent and lean back slightly to engage your core.
- 2Clasp your hands or hold a weight in front of your chest.
- 3Rotate your torso to tap beside one hip.
- 4Twist smoothly to the other side and continue alternating.
Beginner notes
- Keeping the feet down makes an easier starting version.
- Controlled rotation beats fast, loose swinging.
- A dumbbell or kettlebell adds challenge once the basic version is easy.
A note on training information
Where it’s used
Sports this relates to:
Fitness
Strength and general fitness training — the foundation that supports every other sport.
Boxing
A striking combat sport built on footwork, timing and conditioning, practised from fitness drills to controlled sparring.
Functional Fitness
Varied, whole-body training built around everyday movement patterns like squatting, lifting and carrying.
Related exercises
Squat
A foundational lower-body movement where you bend at the hips and knees to lower down and stand back up.
Goblet squat
A squat variation where you hold a single weight close to your chest for balance and control.
Jump squat
An explosive squat variation where you spring off the floor at the top of the movement.
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Movement patterns
- RotationRotating the trunk to generate and transfer power through the body's kinetic chain, plus anti-rotation — resisting unwanted twist to keep the trunk stable.
- Crossover StepA lateral or diagonal travelling step in which one leg crosses over the other with accompanying hip and trunk rotation, trading a stable base for greater reach and speed.
- PivotA rotation of the body about one planted foot, reorienting the trunk and hips around a vertical axis without travelling to a new location.
- StrikeA ballistic, whole-body hitting action that channels ground-generated force through a proximal-to-distal kinetic chain to deliver momentum to a target via the hand, an implement or a body part at the moment of contact.
- ThrowPropelling an object by releasing it from the hand, driven by a proximal-to-distal kinetic-chain sequence that summates speed from the legs through the trunk and arm to the release point.
Movement comparisons
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How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Exercise
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-07-06
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