Hello to the Body Builders and the people who want to have shaped bodies and strong muscles! Are you looking for the best hollow body hold workout? The purpose of writing this article is for both categories of people, the one who wants to have a shaped body and the other who loves bodybuilding. What is a hollow body hold?
Hollow body hold is simply the exercise for building up the core. The advanced level abdominal exercise that targets the muscles in your core is termed as hollow body hold. Maximum tension is focused in this exercise because maximum force is required to press the lower back into the floor when you perform this exercise. Maximum tension is focused through the abdominal muscles that make it an excellent move for athletes.
There are thousands of question come in mind when we think about the workout. And in this modern era, there is no difficulty in doing anything. Internet is providing you all the stuff you want within seconds. Whenever I talk about the workout, whether for weight loss, weight gain, or for strengthening of muscles, one thing I suggest in just one word, i.e., “consistency.”
Be consistent, have some goals, stay motivated, and you will get what you want. Mainly, this exercise is for athletes as well as for people who want to burn calories. Hope this article will help you out. This article will be helpful for both men as well as women.
Before starting this article, we must know how hollow body workouts help us strengthen our muscles? And how will these workouts help build weak muscle groups and increase muscle activity for athletes? How to do this workout at home? According to a study, it was noticed that hollow body hold burn approximately 3-5 calories per minute that are based on body weight.
How to Do a Hollow Body Hold?
The hollow body hold is an abdominal exercise in which muscles present in our core are targeted. This exercise is an intermediate to advanced level exercise. As force is required to press the lower back into the floor, the maximum tension is focused through an abdomen.
The maximum tension through the abdomen makes it the best for athletes. You can change your arm and leg position if you are a beginner to make it easier to do. This exercise is intermediate to advanced level exercise, adding the hollow body hold to an abdominal and core circuit. This can also be used as a part of a dynamic warm-up.
Targeted Parts of The Body:

Targeted parts of the body in this exercise are as follows:
- Transverse abdomens
- Rectus abdomens
- Oblique
- Quads
- Hip flexors
- Inner thighs
- Erector spine
Things Required for Hollow Body Hold Exercise:

There is just a need for an exercise mat for doing this exercise. A lot of things are not required, like in the gym. So you can easily do this exercise at home by just having an exercise mat.
You can buy the best non-slippery exercise mats from our recommendation as below:
Level of Exercise:
Intermediate to advance
Benefits of Hollow Body Hold:
There are a lot of benefits of hollow body hold exercise. This exercise is an excellent move for targeting the following:
- The transverse abdomens
- Rectus abdomens
- Oblique
- Quads
- Hip flexors
- Inner thighs
- Erector spine muscles
Strength and Stabilization of Core Muscle:
- Hollow body hold exercise helps build strength and stabilization in core and lower back muscles.
- If you are doing this exercise perfectly/ without any mistake, this exercise can improve your posture.
- If you are doing this in exact postures/ positions like the lower back and abs are in the right position, this exercise will help in strengthening the muscles needed to prevent lower back pain.
- From a functional standpoint, this exercise is helpful to trains your core to resist arching your lower back. That is because when you apply power to press the lower once again into the floor, you’re showing your body how to prepare the abs. This assists you with building a stable waist and increment the force you can produce from your center.
- Another reason to add the hollow body hold to a center exercise or full-body routine is the sort of hold needed during this move. When your legs and arms are in the right position and your back is squeezed into the floor, you will play out an isometric or static withdrawal. This kind of withdrawal expects you to hold a muscle bunch consistent for a while. In this exercise, multiple muscle groups are working uniformly, making it a fantastic exercise to add to your line-up.
- As we all know, isometric exercise is the best exercise that helps build strength without placing stress on the joints. So, this type of exercise is recommended for rehabilitation. This exercise is an excellent movement to add to any sports conditioning program that requires powerful core muscles to perform the activity.
For more information, read Hollow Body Hold- The Complete Guide for You: Top Pros and Cons.
Step-by-Step Instruction:
If you want to get the most out of this exercise, you have to follow some of these instructions:

Common Mistakes in Doing Hollow Body Hold:
A lot of steps are not required or doing hollow body hold exercise. Your goal should be to hold an isometric contraction for a particular period. You have to hold to this position before going back to the starting position. The most critical part of this exercise is to hold on to this position.
There is a lot of mistakes that we make while doing hollow body hold. Some of them are given below:
Not Pressing the Lower Back into the Ground: The establishment of this move is the capacity to press your lower once more into the ground. To do this, you should keep your center connected the whole time. On the off chance that you lose the association with the floor, think about changing the arm and leg position. Have a go at holding your arms close by or potentially twisting your knees. This assists with diminishing the strain on your muscular strength.
- Keeping the Shoulder Blades on the Floor:
While doing the hollow body hold, your shoulder bones need to leave the ground. In case you’re not ready to get your center enough, it very well may be hard to raise your shoulder bones off the floor. Keep in mind; this is certifiably not a huge hole between the ground and your body. You need to raise your shoulder bones enough so you make strain on your center.
- Tucking Your Chin:
Try not to fall into the snare of tucking your jaw to your chest. In addition to the fact that this takes the neck out of the unbiased arrangement and increments the take a huge risk strain, it likewise lessens the pressure on your core muscles.
Give it a read: some approaches to core strengthening exercises for back pain.
Is Hollow Body Hold Good?
Yes, we can say hollow hold is good because it fortifies the muscles that balance out your lower back during athletic and ordinary developments. Equitably fortified glutes, hip flexors, and stomach muscles assist with keeping your spine in appropriate arrangement and stay away from stress to the vertebrae and discs.
Why is Hollow Body Hold So Hard?
As your body attempts to help the heaviness of your arms and legs, your back normally needs to curve to reduce the pressure. However, Mansour said that the general purpose of the hollow body is to keep a flat or neutral spine. That is why it’s so difficult/ hard to do a hollow body hold.
What Type of Exercise is a Hollow Body Hold?
Hollow body hold is an isometric exercise.
Hollow body hold is an isometric exercise that includes utilizing your core muscles while staying static. You have to perform hollow body holds by lying level on your back. With your chest area, lift your arms overhead and raise your shoulder bones off the floor.
Why is it Called Hollow Body Hold?
Holding your arms and legs off the floor while lying straight on the floor doesn’t, in itself, make your body hollow. The exact meaning of a hollow body is a hollow core/torso. The magical thing that occurs is in between your shoulders and pelvis. Your limits serve to add stacking to the position.
What is a Hollow Rock Hold Exercise?
In this exercise, you have to face up on the floor, feet together, and carry four to six crawls off the ground. Then, at that point, bring the arms overhead so your biceps are close to your ears. Press your lower once again into the floor, contract your center, and raise your arms and legs off the ground. You ought to promptly feel your center agreement.
Muscles Worked by the Hollow Rock:
The muscles worked by the hollow rock are as follows:
The hollow rock predominately prepares your major chain (the muscles toward the front of the body). These incorporate your abs, hip flexors, and quads. Keep in mind that the core muscle is more than just ”abs”; barren rocks will prepare your whole center musculature. Following are the muscles that worked by hollow body rock:
- Rectus Abdomens:
The six-pack muscle in your body is the rectus abdomen. The main function of the rectus abdomen is to flex the torso forward.
- Transverse Abdominals:
Think about the cross-over mid-region is a belt you fix your free jeans with. The Transverse Abdominals assume an indispensable part in keeping up with stomach strain. It sits under your rectus abdomens.
- Oblique:
The oblique sits on one or the other side of your waist and is engaged with turn, and this is involved in rotation and anti-rotation. This muscle is endeavoring to keep your core from falling excessively far to one or the other side during the hollow rock.
- Hip Flexors:
The mobility of these muscles plays a vital role in allowing you to squat and deadlift, but the hip flexors need to be strong, too. They’reThey’re specifically working to suspend your legs throughout the movement.
- Quadriceps:
The only quad muscle to cross the knee and hip joint is the rectus femoris. Hollow rock trains the rectus femoris muscle to cross the two joints, i.e., the knee and hip joint.
Why Should You Do the Hollow Rock?
You should do the hollow rock because hollow rock helps strengthen and improve the stability of the core. For a long period, core muscles are required to engage in the hollow rock. The plus point for this exercise is that you can easily do it. And you can easily make progress by doing this exercise.
For everyone, either a beginner or a pro, this exercise is beneficial for strengthening and stabilizing the core. In short, we can say this exercise is beneficial for all. So, you should do this exercise to get benefits. There are a lot of benefits of hollow rock. Some of them are discussed below:
- Strengthen Athletes
- Bodybuilders
Strengthen Athletes:
The muscles that are present around the spine are strengthened by doing hollow body hold exercises. This will strengthen the spine muscles during compound movements under compressive and shear forces. If your spine is stable while doing hollow rock exercise, then the spine is safe. This exercise is helpful for athletes to strengthen their muscles and prevent injuries.
Bodybuilders:
The hollow body rock exercise is also helpful for bodybuilders. For an aesthetic physique, the six-pack is the point of convergence or the focal point. Hollow rock exercises also strengthen the core muscles. That is a good thing for bodybuilders.
Safety and Precautions:
The hollow body hold is by and large a protected exercise for most wellness levels as long as you are utilizing appropriate postures/ structures. All things considered, if you have lower back issues, neck ache, shoulder ache, or restrictions that make it hard to lay on the floor, this activity might be contraindicated if you are a beginner to this workout, attempt the adjusted form first. Gradually, you will be able to do full movement. If you are having trouble doing this exercise or feel aches when performing this workout, stop doing this exercise.
- Give it a Try:
If you want to know about a similar workout that functions the same as hollow body hold, give these articles a read:
Modifications and Variations for Hollow Body Hold:
The hollow body hold is abdominal exercise. On the off chance that you can’t do the full form, consider working ready. Once you’ve mastered the move, you can add further challenges.
Need a Modification?
It’s not difficult to alter the hollow body hold. Recall that structure is basic to this move. The primary alteration to attempt is with your arms and hands. Rather than coming behind you, get your arms and hands so they are pointing up to the roof. The strain on the core is decreased by doing this.
Additionally, you can raise your legs and curve the knees (pull them towards the chest), which eases the pressure off of the abs, yet holds the lower back squeezed into the floor, constraining the centre muscles to contract.
Conclusion:
Exercise is important for a healthy being. But the most important this is how to do it? If you are doing it with proper guidance and performing perfectly, exercise is the best thing for strengthening muscles, bodybuilding, weight loss, best for athletes, and many more benefits. But if you are not doing properly, exercise can harm you, like suffering backaches, fractures, or any other injury.
Exercise should be performed in moderation. Excess of everything is bad so do not try to achieve the target in a single day by this you will just be having stress. If you properly perform the exercise, you will achieve the target soon. Everything takes time. Nothing is possible to be done in just the blink of an eye. Stay consistent. Stay motivated. You will achieve your goals.