How to prevent back pain with traditional athletic abdominal conditioning

Watching infomercials about the new, hot abdominal device or the cute little videos with the guys and girls that model an already lean and impressive set of rippling core muscles in a commercial workout that promises you an amazing set of abs with 5 minutes of work a couple of times a week.

We’ve all seen them and some of you right now have bought’em…right? I’ll tell you right now I’ve been guilty of the same thought process. “The spot reduction 1,000 reps per day workout and no diet change system” Yes…even me, Mr. Fat Loss.

As embarrassing as that is to admit, the road started there and ended soon after when finally started learning what really worked and how much exercise you needed to actually do when training core.

The core is also called the Abdominals: In reference to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of the structures between the chest and the pelvis. The abdomen is separated anatomically from the chest by the diaphragm, the powerful muscle spanning the body cavity below the lungs.

The Abdominals are composed of several muscles:

  1.  the Rectus Abdominus

  2. Transverse Abdominus

  3.  the External and Internal Obliques

Several other experts will also add reference to the pelvic diaphragm or pelvic floor. A few more will mention muscles immediately above and below the pelvis along with the lower back, gluteus muscles plus the hamstrings.

That’s a lot of muscle and pretty much covers us from nipples to knee caps! How in the world are you supposed to hit all those other muscles with all the other stuff needed within every workout?

Great question and as I found out years later, you don’t. Your body automatically involves many of them each time you perform just about anytime you move your body. And when you include basic primal movement patterns in your workout selection on a rotational basis, the large muscle groups of the body and the compound movements of a well planned program will more that suffice.

However, many of us just have to see for ourselves and instead of listening to expert, seasoned, worldly (did I say all knowing?) advice. Or when some type of injury occurs, we really want to find out how to make the pain go away and then a series of exercises may be recommended as some type of exercise prescription by a specialist in rehabilitation.

Either way, if pain is something plaguing your back or the pleasure of sporting a nice set of abs is your goal… specific core training is a great place to start.

Methods that you can choose to strengthen the core include:

  1.  Bodyweight

  2.  Bands and cables

  3.  Medicine balls

  4.  Physio balls

  5.  Machines…avoid please!

When starting a core program, you also must be progressive in your beginning exercises and follow a certain protocol, meaning you use easy movements and advance to more difficult:

  1.  Slow to fast

  2.  Simple to complex

  3.  Stable to unstable

  4.  Low force to high force

  5.  General to specific

  6.  Correct execution to increased intensity

Core training can be part of or can be the entire focus of a training program depending on the situation at hand. For cosmetic reasons, core training performed after main workout is completed will allow the total strength involvement without fatigue of core muscles, reducing over all support or the bracing and transfer of force through the abdominals while working out.

If for rehabilitation purposes, the core workout may be the main event and the only type of training performed until pain free movement and incorrect movement patterns are eliminated. Then the return to the typical sport specific or work related activity will continue once pain is reduced and full body use can be performed.

Core training is more advanced than the infomercials will have you believe and also very deceptive on how the look ripped abs is actually going to be achieved. Along with the statement on the bottom of the screen in really small, fine print you’ll see the words, ”results may very” to help you understand that the device being demonstrated might or might not give you the same results.

You can discover how to correctly do your core training on your own or wait until later and pay a lot more possibly due to an injury along with an incorrect diagnosis that your back needs a surgical operation because of “excessive disc damage” or “too much compression here or there”

There are many non evasive strategies worth trying in regards to back pain prevention plus you can have better looking abs at the pool or beach and you certainly can find more fun ways to spend your time.