Quickly becoming one of my new favorite movements is the Cable Pallof Press. We have used these with bands for years prior to having cable machines in our weight room, so there are other options for those of you who are without cables.
The movement trains anti-rotation of the the trunk. Creating strength through anti-rotational exercises also produces strength in rotational exercises, so we use them interchangeably. Not only do our athletes feel this in their trunk but this is one of the best exercises for activating the adductors in the hips as well. The movement incorporates everything from the chest to the knees.
Those who have been reading this blog for a while understand this follows in my opinions on training the core as an entire unit. I preach strength and stability of the torso/core all the time. We don't do situps, crunches, russian twists, leg raises, etc..... This is one of our main rotational strength exercises for the current 3 week block of training our in-season baseball athletes.