4 Dangerous Mistakes People Make With The Full Contact Twist

In the last post I introduced to you the full contact twist and shared a couple of tips on technique and proper form. In this post I want to point out a few mistakes that I’ve seen people make when I teach them the full contact twist. Mistakes are a normal part of the learning process but it is important to learn a safe and effective technique for each exercise.

We don’t want to hurt ourselves. What follows is a selection of videos I found online with people demonstrating the drill. If one of these videos is yours, apologies for using it as a *bad example* – I only want to help people get strong and stay safe.

Mistake #1 – Extending The Arms

This video is a good example of someone overcompensating his lack of strength with bad form. Remember, the weight you use is not important. What matters is that you use perfect technique and gradually increase the weight over time. This ensures strength and lack of injuries.

In the full contact twist, the arms should remain locked or almost locked and no movement should come from them. Pushing with your triceps makes the exercise easier and thus less effective. Here is a screencap from the above video showing how the instructor pushes with his arms:

[Note how he is using the strength of his tricep to overcome a sticking point in the movement. Cheater, cheater :)]

Mistake #2 – Using Restricted Range Of Motion

Using the full range of motion for the full contact twist means to always let the bar touch your thigh. There are two reasons for this, but before this – check out our cute model demonstrating crappy form. Now, let’s continue:

First, all natural full body movements need to be done with full range of motion in order to gain strength throughout the whole movement path that the joints allow. This results in both strength for your muscles and health for the joints.

Second, when you do the FCT and finish mid air, this means that your body, or center of gravity, is too distant from the weight. Which results in a long lever (or torque) acting on your spine. Ouch! If you still remember your physics, the longer the lever, the bigger the force it exerts. So keep your body close to the bar.

[Take note how this cutie here finishes the movement in mid air. Actually I’d say she doesn’t finish the movement at all – instead decides she’s had enough of the rep and just reverses it lol! If the bar were loaded with a few plates, it would pull on her spine!]

Mistake #3 – Staying In The In The Arch Position Instead Of The Hollow Position

An example for this mistake can be seen in two of the video I shared with you above – check it out again if you like here. Basically these folks are tilting their pelvises back. This position activates the lower back but actually relaxes the abs. And, because with the FCT a heavy bar is trying to push you back, the last thing you want to do is extend backwards even more.

This mistake both severely restricts the amount of force you can exert, and makes the exercise unsafe, as the abdominal muscles are strong in the hollow position and weak in the arch position

[Check out how there is an exaggerated curve in their lower backs. This is a great example of proper form for the arch position. Problem is – the full contact twist needs to be done in the hollow position or you risk hurting your lower back. Ouch again!]

Mistake #4 – Not Rotating The Hips And The Trailing Foot

Here is a video showcasing this mistake. The guy has planted both of his feet and doesn’t rotate them. The hip is also almost stationary. This creates unnatural tension in the hip and knee joints.

The different joints of the body are created for different function. Without getting into too much detail, the hips and ankles need to be mobile and the knees need to be stable. The knee is a hinge joint – just like the hinge of a door it goes only in one plane – back and forth.

The mistake here is that by keeping the hips and ankles stable, the knee joint has to compensate with rotation. So the result is loss of strength because of the inefficient and unnatural movement as well as potential danger for the knee.