The Lagree Twister

The Lagree Twister - formerly called the Teaser - is an oblique exercise done on 1 Yellow spring at the front of the Megaformer. Typically, you are also facing the front of the machine, though you may occasionally encounter a Reverse, or Platform, Twister when instructors are looking to add an extra challenge to their DriveTrain classes.

The “twist” to the Twister is twofold:

1) To set up for the move, the leg on your working side (e.g., right leg if you’re working your right obliques) crosses in front of the leg on your non-working side, with all ten toes pointing sideways in the same direction. Your chest and shoulders, however, point down towards the floor, creating a natural twist in your body from the start.

2) As you move through the Twister, you extend your legs backward, sending the carriage out with them. This opens up your hips and belly towards your toes, creating a more dramatic twist of your upper and lower body at the bottom of the movement. Then, to draw your legs back in underneath your hips, you’ll actively twist in reverse, pulling the hip on your working side back, and pushing the opposite hip forward.

The twisted position and twisting movement of the Twister activates both your external and internal obliques, as well as your transverse abdominals. As a bonus, holding your arms in place - shoulders over or just behind your wrists - as your legs move requires constant contraction from your upper back, triceps, and shoulders.

Check out DriveTrain’s Twister demonstration in the video above to to learn more about the oblique burner and its proper execution.