Exercises for the Abdominal Muscles
I do advise you to strengthen your abdominal muscles if you do suffer from lower back pain, along with other forms of management and treatment. Exercising your lower back is very important because strengthen the muscles will protect your spine The brain normally has independent control over the inner and outer core muscles that surround the spine. In a healthy system (with no history of low back pain), the brain normally activates inner core muscles first when low loads are placed on the spine during daily activities. The brain is programmed to contract these deep stabilizing muscles to provide stiffness between individual segments of the spine. The most important inner core stabilizing muscles of the lower back are the deepest layer of the lateral abdominal muscles, Transversus Abdominis, and the deepest of the muscles in the lower back, Lumbar Multifidi. These muscles work at all times during body movement, even when the movement is of a body part a long way from the spine, such as the shoulder. These muscles are much smaller and deeper, and do not generate great forces. As moderate to high loads are placed on the spine, the brain recruits outer core muscles more aggressively. These are large, strong, movement-producing muscles. The inner core controls the individual segments or parts of the lumbar spine & pelvis, whereas the outer core is only capable of controlling the whole spine in this region. The point I want to make here is that strong muscles surrounding your spine helps to stabilize your spine, which is your central point of entire body movement, control, and function. This is why having any form of pain in your lower back can affect other areas of your body. This was something I found out the hard way when I injured my back. Now that you have an idea on how important it is to exercise your back to keep free of injury, next you will learn what exercises are good and simple to due to work what I like to call the core area of your body. This area I’m referring to is your abdominal area and lower back area. Once again let me remind you that no one form of lower back treatment can work by itself, but a combination of everything works best. Also it is important to properly perform the back exercises you get from this site, any site, or a physical therapist. The first form of exercises to strengthen your body’s core area is something familiar with a lot of us, working the abdominal muscles. The reason I’m talking about working the abdominal muscles, I know people will insist on working them. Strong abs can help in protecting and keeping your spine a line as much as possible, but the impact on helping with lower back pain is not a whole lot, so keep this in mind. There are all sorts of abdominal muscle exercises you can do, but for now we’ll touch on a few ones I really think are good. A point I like to make about working you abs. Yes strong abs will help, but the downside is that working your abdominal muscles will not teach or train your body for good posture, and does not simulate everyday normal movement of your body. Working abdominal muscles alone will not cure your back problem. Let’s get into the ab exercises:
• Crunches: Crunches are probably the most basic exercise there is for the abdominal muscles. They primarily work the rectus abdominis and secondarily the obliques.
To perform crunches, lie flat on the floor or other flat surface. It helps to use some kind of padding, such as an exercise mat, if one is lying on a hard floor. Bend the knees and bring the feet towards the hips forming about a 45-degree bend. The feet should remain flat on the floor throughout the movement. The feet should be about shoulder width apart. Some recommend locking the fingers behind the head. However, when this is done, there is a tendency to pull up with the arms. Such an action should be avoided. So to prevent this, it would be better to place the hands on the sides of the head. Keeping the lower back on the floor and the head in a neutral position, slowly raise the shoulders off of the ground. Do not bend the head towards the chest. The head should remain in a straight line with the body. As the shoulders are raised, the pelvis should flatten so that there is no arch in the back. The entire movement is only of a few inches. Going up any higher would involve the hip flexor muscles. Exhale as the shoulders are raised. Lower the shoulders back to the ground in a slow, controlled manner. Inhale during the downward movement. To add resistance, weight plates can be held on the chest. This will, of course, necessitate moving the hands to the chest to hold the weights. But be very careful when using weights and be sure to not come up farther than as described or undo stress will be placed on the lower back. Remember that doing this exercise correctly is important to not injure your back. Also gradually work your way into any abdominal muscles exercise slowly if you never did them before.
• Twisting Crunches: A basic variation of the crunch is to do them in a twisting fashion. Twisting increases the involvement of the obliques. The same instructions apply, except rather than coming straight up; the lifter twists to one side so that the head and shoulders are curling outside of the knee. Slowly lower back down, and then curl up again, twisting to the other side.
• Leg Raises/Reverse Crunches: The common name for this kind of exercise is leg raises. However, a better name is "reverse crunches" to emphasize the limited range of motion through which the legs should be moved.
To properly perform reverse crunches, lie flat on the floor, preferably on some kind of padding. Bend and raise the legs so that the thighs are perpendicular to the body and the lower legs are parallel to the body. This is the starting position. Next, slowly bring the thighs as far forward as possible, consciously pulling with the abdominal muscles. The end position should have the knees as close to the face as possible. Pause, and then slowly lower the thighs to the starting position. Pause, and then start the second rep. Be sure to avoid any kind of rebounding, swinging, or rocking motion. The ab muscles not momentum should be used to bring the thighs forwards and back. Inhale at the start of the movement. Then exhale as the thighs are brought forward and inhale as they are lowered. To add resistance, reverse crunches can be done on a slant board. The greater the angle of the board, the harder the exercise will be. So start with as low angle as the board set-up allows. Once 15 reps can be performed with good form, then gradually increase the angle. Hold onto the sides of the board above the head to prevent slipping down the board.
• Twisting Reverse Crunches: As with crunches, reverse crunches can be performed in a twisting fashion. Again, the same instructions apply, except, the thighs should be brought forward at an angle so that the knees angle to a point outside of the shoulders.
Bring the thighs as far forward as possible to one side; pause, and then return to the starting position. Pauses again, and then bring the thighs forward to the opposite side.
• Swiss Ball Crunches: A Swiss ball is a large ball, usually larger than a beach ball, but made of very strong material. It is strong enough that exercises can be performed lying on the top of it. And doing crunches on a Swiss ball greatly increase the effectiveness of the movement. It forces the abdominal muscles to work harder and brings in the obliques in order to stabilize you on the ball.
To do them, sit on the ball with your buttocks a little forward from the highest part of the ball. Keep you feet flat on the ground, with your legs spread about shoulder width to balance yourself. Then lie back on the ball so that you are slightly hyper extended, so that your upper back is a little bit below parallel with your buttocks. Pause, then bend forward as you would for a regular crunch, coming up only a few inches. Pause, then return to the starting position. Be sure to concentrate the whole time so that you don't fall of the ball! It is possible to increase the resistance by holding weights on the chest as for regular crunches. You may try this after you have become strong enough to do so. However, doing so is a little tricky. So only do so if you are confident in your ability to maintain your balance on the ball. It would also help if you have someone hand the weights to you after you are in position on the ball.
• Machines: Various Nautilus and other brands of machines have been devised to work the abdominal muscles. The advantage of these machines is resistance can easily be added. But, as with any machine, they reduce the recruitment of stabilizing muscles, and thus are less effective than free weight exercises.
The best kind of machine is one that involves moving both the chest towards the thighs and the thighs towards the chest thus working both the upper and lower abdominal muscles. When using a machine, between reps, lower the weight stack so that it just “taps” the remaining weights but do not come to a complete stop. In this way, constant tension is maintained on the abdominal muscles. Also, starting the stack from a stopped position is the hardest part of the exercise and can place undo strain on the lower back when done repeatedly. There you have it. Very simple and easy way to work the front midsection of your core body. As I said before abdominal work does not really do much to help with the injured area to your lower back, but does help along with lower back exercise (which I discuss here), good body mechanics, posture, rest, ice/heat, and everything I discussed earlier. References: Bell, James T. and Karl M. Dauphinais. The Book on Personal Training. Tampa, FL: International Fitness Professional Association, 2001.
Delavier, Frederic. Strength Training and Anatomy, Paris, France: Human kinetics, 2001.
Hatfield, Frederick, C. Bodybuilding: A Scientific Approach. Chicago, IL: Contemporary Books, 1984.
Schuller, Lou. The Testosterone Advantage Plan, USA: Rodale, 2002.
**This site is designed for education and information purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice, professional services, or treatment of illness or disease. If you feel that you have a health problem, you should seek the advice of your Physician or health care Practitioner before pursuing an alternative health method.**
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