It's now time for part 3 of the Back Pain Insights installment. In cased you missed them, here are Part 1 and Part 2. In continuation of the series, today we are going to take a look at the abdominals and their role in back pain and lower cross syndrome.
Weak Abdominals
When you think of the abs, more than likely you think about the 6-pack. However, there is more to the abs than meets the eye. The abdominal muscle group includes the rectus abdominins (6-pack), the transverse abdominis (a natural corset), and the internal and external obliques (produces rotation and lateral bending). All of these must work together to provide a strong core and prevent back pain.
In relation to lower cross syndrome, the rectus abdominis is the antagonist, or opposing, muscle to the hip flexors. Thus if they are weak, they allow the hip flexors to exert a high pull, and move the pelvis into anterior tilt. If you remember what we talked about earlier, excessive anterior pelvic tilt is a major player in back pain.
However, when talking about back pain and the abs, it doesn't stop there. The other muscles must be strong in order to stabilize the core, allow the transfer of power from the lower body to the upper body, and reduce the pressure created on the lumbar spine. If they are weak, the compressive forces on the vertebrae in the spine rise greatly, increasing the chance for a bulging or herniated disc.
Solution
While many include endless crunches into their programs, they fail to strengthen their core enough. In fact, if back pain is already present, crunches can cause further harm due to the pull the hip flexors place on the lumbar spine past 30-45 degrees of flexion in the crunch. Also, they neglect to train the other abdominal muscles adequately. Rotational and stabilization work must be trained.
A sample ab circuit would be:
Weak Abdominals
In relation to lower cross syndrome, the rectus abdominis is the antagonist, or opposing, muscle to the hip flexors. Thus if they are weak, they allow the hip flexors to exert a high pull, and move the pelvis into anterior tilt. If you remember what we talked about earlier, excessive anterior pelvic tilt is a major player in back pain.
However, when talking about back pain and the abs, it doesn't stop there. The other muscles must be strong in order to stabilize the core, allow the transfer of power from the lower body to the upper body, and reduce the pressure created on the lumbar spine. If they are weak, the compressive forces on the vertebrae in the spine rise greatly, increasing the chance for a bulging or herniated disc.
Solution
While many include endless crunches into their programs, they fail to strengthen their core enough. In fact, if back pain is already present, crunches can cause further harm due to the pull the hip flexors place on the lumbar spine past 30-45 degrees of flexion in the crunch. Also, they neglect to train the other abdominal muscles adequately. Rotational and stabilization work must be trained.
A sample ab circuit would be:
1A Planks 2x30sec
1B Russian Plate Twists 2x30secs or 30 total twists
1C Hanging Knee Raises 2x10
(Forgot to get a picture of me for these)
1D Side Bridges 2x30sec
1E DB Side Bends 2x10 bends a side
No Nonsense Rock Hard Abs,
Kyle Bohannon, CSCS
Owner/Head Trainer
kyle@trainstrive.com
www.trainstrive.com
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