Path to Strong Abs
According to Harvard Medical School, crunches are hard on your back, since they "push your curved spine against the floor and work your hip flexors, the muscles that run from the thighs to the lumbar vertebrae in the lower back." When your hip flexors are too tight, they pull on your lower spine, which can cause lower back pain; plus, poorly performed crunches can also put strain on the neck.
In addition to the potential for pain, sit-ups and crunches target just a few isolated muscles, and your core goes far beyond just abdominal muscles, so they aren't the most effective use of your time.
The good news: There are many other exercises that not only protect your back and neck, but work more of the core muscles, getting you more bang for your buck. "These exercises focus on getting your spine into a good position and maintaining that while your extremities are moving," says Bott. "Instead of creating the movement, your muscles are working hard against it. Your abs still get a tremendous workout and there's no worries of overuse."
Work your core: Ab exercises that are better than crunches in order of difficulty
- Dying Bugs: Lie on your back with your arms straight up to the ceiling and your knees and hips bent to 90 degrees. Keeping your rib cage down extend your opposite arm and leg out taking a deep breath out.
- Leg Lowering: Again, while lying on your back lift both legs up so that both feet are facing the ceiling. Then while keeping one leg straight up as if you had a hot cup of coffee on your foot, slowly lower the other leg down, as close to the ground as possible and then return to the top.
- Front Plank: Set up on your elbows and toes, don’t let the hips sag or pike up. Goal should be about 60 seconds before increasing the difficulty.
- Long Lever Front Plank: Same set up except we are going to move the elbows further forward.
- Front Plank (arm lift/leg lift/combo of both): These are three quick progressions to make a plank more challenging if you’ve mastered the 60-second hold.
- Side Plank: Keep the elbow under the shoulder and shoulder away from the ear. This move targets the obliques. Again, the goal should be 60 seconds. Once this is achieved we’d want to progress it to more difficult exercises.
As a patient we will direct you with a personal exercise routine that takes into account your injury, ability and long term spinal health. This is conducted as a care plan in your initial report and the exercises will be modified as you improve and our health goals change.