ProgreviaHollow hold: proper form, muscles worked and common mistakes
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How to do it
Lying on your back, lift the shoulders and legs off the floor keeping the lower back pressed down and the body in a boat shape. Hold bracing the abs; lower the arms and legs for more difficulty.
Muscles worked
Main muscle: abs. When it plans weekly volume, every set of this exercise counts in full for abs: the generator does not split it with other muscles.
Hollow hold versus side plank: two isometrics with different jobs
The hollow hold and the side plank only look alike because both are isometric. In the first you lie on your back and what you resist is your lower back arching: it is anti-extension, with the whole abdominal wall working and the hip flexors holding up the lever of the legs. The side plank instead resists your hip dropping to one side and loads mainly the obliques and quadratus lumborum on the underneath side. The hollow hold makes you feel the front of the trunk; the side plank, the flank.
It is an excellent foundation if you do gymnastics or calisthenics, or if you hope to reach the Hanging leg raise or the V-sit one day, because it teaches the same posture with the ribs drawing toward the pelvis. To start, bend the knees or keep your arms by your sides; reaching the arms overhead and moving the legs farther away lengthens the lever and makes it much harder. Do short sets with good form instead of one long set with the lower back off the floor.
One detail that belongs to this exercise: think of bringing your lower ribs toward your pelvis and tucking your chin slightly without tensing your neck. Breathing will be short and shallow, but do not hold your breath. When your form breaks, do not keep grinding; move to an easier version.
Technical sheet
- Movement pattern
- Core
- Minimum level
- Intermediate
- Technical demand
- Needs coaching
- Fatigue it generates
- Low (0.5 out of 2.2)
- Risk if technique breaks down
- Low
These are the values the generator uses to decide where the exercise goes within the session.
Recommended sets and reps
As an isometric exercise, it is programmed by time: 3–4 sets of 20–45 seconds holding tension without losing position. Increase time under tension before adding difficulty.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Letting your lower back lift off the floor as you extend your limbs: shorten the range until it stays down.
- Sticking with the same version once you can hold it for more than a minute: move to a harder variation.
- Holding longer than you can keep your position: the moment your form breaks, the set is over.
What the research says
This is an isolation exercise. For beginners, adding it on top of compound lifts does not always help: in the trial by Gentil and colleagues (2013), people who only did lat pulldowns gained as much arm size as those who also did curls. It earns its place with experience, and for muscles the big lifts leave short.
On how hard to push: the meta-analysis by Refalo and colleagues (2023) found no clear advantage in going to failure over stopping just short of it. That is why the generator programs it with reps in reserve (RIR) instead of asking for failure on every set.
- Gentil P, Soares SR, Pereira MC, et al. Effect of adding single-joint exercises to a multi-joint exercise resistance-training program on strength and hypertrophy in untrained subjects. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. 2013;38(3):341-344.
- Refalo MC, Helms ER, Trexler ET, Hamilton DL, Fyfe JJ. Influence of resistance training proximity-to-failure on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Medicine. 2023;53(3):649-665.
How Hollow hold compares with other abs exercises
Of the 14 abs exercises in the catalogue, ranked from least to most fatiguing by the values the generator uses, Hollow hold is number 8 (tied with one other).
That makes it a good candidate for adding abs sets at the end of a session or in heavy weeks, when you want volume without extra fatigue.
With different equipment, the same movement pattern offers 3 alternatives, such as Cable crunch, Pallof press and Landmine rotation.
| Exercise | Equipment | Fatigue | Technique |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cable crunch | cable | Low (0.4 out of 2.2) | Basic |
| Pallof press | cable | Low (0.4 out of 2.2) | Needs coaching |
| Plank | bodyweight | Low (0.4 out of 2.2) | Basic |
| Side plank | bodyweight | Low (0.4 out of 2.2) | Basic |
| Hollow hold | bodyweight | Low (0.5 out of 2.2) | Needs coaching |
| Lateral plank walk | bodyweight | Low (0.5 out of 2.2) | Needs coaching |
| Hanging leg raise | bodyweight | Low (0.6 out of 2.2) | Needs coaching |
| V-sit | bodyweight | Low (0.6 out of 2.2) | Advanced |
Bodyweight. In the trial by Kotarsky et al. (2018), four weeks of progressively harder push-ups significantly improved bench press 1RM, just like training the bench press itself. It is a strength result, not a hypertrophy one, and the condition is the word progressive: the exercise has to keep getting harder.
An isolation exercise. In the trial by Gentil et al. (2015), with untrained young men over ten weeks, the biceps curl and the lat pulldown were equally effective for gaining strength and size in the elbow flexors: isolation is not filler.
- Kotarsky CJ, Christensen BK, Miller JS, Hackney KJ. Effect of progressive calisthenic push-up training on muscle strength and thickness. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2018;32(3):651-659.
- Gentil P, Soares S, Bottaro M. Single vs. multi-joint resistance exercises: effects on muscle strength and hypertrophy. Asian Journal of Sports Medicine. 2015;6(2):e24057.
Related guide
How to get visible abs: the truth about the six-pack
Alternative exercises
More core exercises
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Frequently asked questions
What muscles does Hollow hold work?
Hollow hold mainly works the abs muscle group, plus synergist and stabilizer muscles depending on the variation.
How many sets of Hollow hold should I do?
Between 3 and 4 sets of 20–45 seconds per session. With isometrics you progress by extending time under tension or adding difficulty (weight, less stable support), not by counting reps.
How long should I hold a hollow hold?
Hold for as long as your lower back stays on the floor; the moment it lifts, the set is over. Several short, clean sets beat one long set with an arched back. If it feels easy, do not just stretch the time: change the lever by reaching your arms overhead or moving your legs farther from the floor.
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