Abdominal Exercises and Back Pain
Getting great abs is a terrific goal and one that can pay off exponentially in an overall healthy physique. Core stability aids our bodies in many ways, including helping to prevent injuries and chronic disorders.
However, it can sometimes occur that in the process of getting those great abdominal muscles and core conditioning we actually do ourselves harm by using improper posture or simply overdoing it. All those sit-ups can actually cause back problems if you aren’t doing them properly. This of course can defeat the purpose entirely.
Back pain that results from abdominal exercises generally means that we are doing something wrong. While the sit-up itself does press the spine into the floor, ensuring you have proper padding under your body as you perform the exercise should help to eliminate this problem. If you are having lower back pain from sit-ups though, this can come from overworking the abdominal muscles.
The abdominal muscles when work shorten. This can result in lower back pain. The back straightens out too much thereby losing its natural curve. This tends to happen if you are overworking the abs at the expense of other muscles. Doing an abs attack class, but failing to workout the rest of your body can lead to uneven muscle distribution and problems down the road.
The hip flexors can also be affected by overworking the abs. These areas are attached to the lower back. When the hip flexors get too tight or overworked they will create a tilt in your back. Essentially the lower back tilts backwards and causes pain.
If you are simply not used to much physical activity than doing a new sit-up regimen may cause temporary pain in the back. However, if you are having prolonged pain then you’ll want to consider how, and how many of these abdominal exercises you are doing.
Core strength training doesn’t have to be done using the traditional sit-up. If you are having pain and yet want to get great abs consider taking a Pilates course. Pilates is one of the best classes you can do to strengthen your core, but you will also discover a host of new ways to do this beyond the traditional sit-up and without hurting your back.
Core strength includes back strength, so be sure that your abs are not the only part of the equation in your workouts. If your ab exercises are causing back pain you need to rethink your approach and possibly get help from a professional trainer or instructor.
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