PVC Helicopter
The PVC Helicopter is a supine core stability exercise that challenges your obliques and abdominals while actively improving shoulder mobility through controlled circular movements.
Iridium identifies this movement as a mobility primer and typically schedules it within dynamic warmup routines based on your specific preferences. The AI excludes this drill from your weekly hypertrophy volume calculations, ensuring it prepares your obliques for rotation without accumulating fatigue that would count against your Maximum Recoverable Volume.
Form Cues
- Press your lower back firmly into the floor
- Keep your arms fully extended and elbows locked
- Draw a large, controlled circle with the PVC pipe
- Engage your core before starting the movement
- Breathe rhythmically throughout the rotation
- Don't allow your lower back to arch off the floor
- Don't bend your elbows to shorten the lever arm
- Don't shrug your shoulders up towards your ears
- Don't rush the movement or use momentum
Common Mistakes
- Flaring the ribcage
- Bending the elbows
- Moving too quickly
- Holding breath
Muscles Worked
This exercise primarily targets the obliques and rectus abdominis, forcing them to stabilize the spine against the rotational forces of the moving arms. It also engages the anterior deltoids and lats, serving as an effective dynamic stretch for the shoulder girdle while reinforcing core stiffness.
Primary
Secondary
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