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Strengthen Your Deep Core Muscles With Resting Goblet Squats

3,732 views · Published 25 September 2013 · 3:16 · Indexed 12 November 2026

Channel: Nick Nilsson - the Mad Scientist of Muscle · 2013 · Sports

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I'm all about training efficiency...because as much as I love training, I don't want to be in the gym for hours and hours and when I'm done, I'm DONE.

Therefore many of the exercises and techniques I come up with are designed to maximize training efficiency, giving you the most bang for your buck.

That's where THIS exercise comes into play...it's a variation of a Dumbbell Goblet Squat with a bit of a twist...literally (you'll see).

On it's own, the Dumbbell Goblet Squat is an good  leg, core and even upper body exercise. To perform that exercise, you simply hold a single dumbbell in a vertical position with 
your hands cradled under the plates, like you're holding a big goblet in your hands. You hold that at chest level then you squat.

THIS version I call the Resting Goblet Squat and it adds that small twist to the exercise that I talked about. Because at the bottom of each rep, you're going to rest the dumbbell on end on first your right thigh, then stand up, then down then rest it on your left thigh.

This is is going to hit the obliques and transverse abdominis to a greater degree than with the straight up and down version. The twist is very small...but because the tension is shifted over as you start out of the bottom, you'll get some excellent core work, especially when you start using heavier dumbbells.

So first, get a moderate weight dumbbell...I'm using a 105 lb dumbbell because I've done this exercise before (it's a moderate weight for ME). Grab it with both hands.

Squat down then rest it on your thigh then get your palms under the top set of plates. This is the easiest way to get a heavier dumbbell into position for the exercise.

Now stand up.

Now squat down, resting part of the dumbbell on your left thigh. Take tension completely off the hips and core at the bottom...we actually WANT to start from a dead stop here to develop
power from a dead stop.

The other benefit here is that you can reset your lower back arch and hips on every rep to make sure you're in the best squatting position. Hold your breath when you begin the push back up in order to stabilize your torso.

Stand up.

Now come down and rest it on the right thigh. As you can see, it's not completely on the thigh...just really the outer half of the dumbbell. We don't want to twist much at all - it's a very subtle movement, basically shifting the weight to one side rather than fully twisting. This weight shift is what activates the obliques.

This Goblet Squat has a lot of benefits and adjusting it in this fashion can increase the core workload very effectively without substantial twisting because, as I mentioned above, it's really about shifting the weight a bit rather than actually twisting.

The Goblet Squat in general is a great way to learn proper squat form as having the weight in front of your body forces you to sit back to compensate and counterbalance for it. And sitting back (especially as you begin the movement, coming down into the squat) is one of the KEY form points you should be keeping in mind with every squat you do.

Get 6 more killer core exercises here:
https://www.fitstep.com/best-core-exercises/

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