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If you’ve ever been told to
strengthen your abs to get
rid of back pain, but didn’t
know how....
“How To
Train Your Abs The RIGHT Way
For Back Pain Relief!”
Has your doctor or
chiropractor told you that
you need to "strengthen your
abs" in order to get rid of
your back pain? Guess what?
They're right!
But...
Which abdominal muscles are
they referring to?
Performing crunches is the
absolute worst thing you can
do if you have lower back
pain. The key muscle to
strengthen is called the
"Transverse Abdominus" (TVA
for short). This extremely
important muscle acts like a
"corset" and its job is to
stabilize your spine. It
works when you try to suck
your lower stomach area in
as when putting on a tight
pair of pants. If you have
back pain, odds are that
this muscle isn't working
properly, therefore your
spine is not being
stabilized! OUCH!
“If This Muscle Isn’t
Working Your Spine May Be At
Risk”
Research shows that the TVA
normally turns on about
30-50 nano-seconds before
any other limb in your body
moves. In individuals with
back pain, however, it has
been shown to fire REALLY
late, or in some cases, not
at all!!
To explain how this muscle
works, I like to use the
analogy of a tube of
toothpaste. Imagine you are
holding a full tube of
toothpaste in your hand with
the cap on it. What happens
when you squeeze the center
of the tube?
Squeezing the center of the
tube creates increased
pressure in the tube. The
toothpaste tube is now very
rigid and hard to bend. This
is exactly how the TVA acts
on your spine. If you were
to breathe in, hold your
breath for a moment, and at
the same time gently suck
your belly button up and in,
you are creating pressure in
your core.
This pressure stabilizes
your spine while you move
and actually activates all
of the other stabilizers in
your body!!
Exercising Your Transverse
Abdominus Will Do The
Following:
-
Improving the strength and
tone of your abdomen. This
will significantly reduce
“bulging” of your lower
belly!
-
Increase strength in your
spinal stabilizer muscles
and assist you in both
eliminating and preventing
lower back pain!
-
Improve your ability to
breathe: Yep! This muscle is
essential in your breathing
cycle. If it doesn’t work,
you may not be getting
enough air!
-
Improve digestion: When
you activate your TVA, it
actually “massages” your
internal organs! This can do
wonders for alleviating
constipation and getting
your bowels to move!
-
Strengthen the muscles
involved in “incontinence”:
(Inability to hold in urine,
which is VERY common amongst
women over the age of 35!)
-
This muscle is a major
player in balancing out the
position of your pelvis,
which directly influences
your lower back!
-
Increase your spinal
stability leading to less
incidences of your spine
“going out”!
How To Exercise Your TVA:
I highly advise that you
start exercising your TVA in
the 4-Point position first,
since it is the easiest way
to activate this muscle.
Once you have mastered it in
this position, start
exercising it in all types
of positions, such as
standing, sitting, and all
of your other exercises.
Yes, that is me, and yes, I
know I need to be working on
my tan! Gimme a break, I
took these photos during
winter!
Instructions:
-
Assume a 4-point position
as shown above. Your hands
should be directly under
your shoulders and your
knees directly under your
hips. Your fingers and toes
should be pointing straight
ahead and straight down,
respectively.
-
Turn your elbows back,
tucking them into your sides
and bend them until your
torso is horizontal.
-
Take a deep diaphragmatic
breath (stomach breath) and
allow your abdominal wall to
relax and your belly to drop
down.
-
Without exhaling – draw
your navel inward which will
activate the TVA. Your
spinal curves should NOT
change.
-
Continue to draw your
navel inward, getting
skinnier as you do, and
exhaling slowly for the
duration of the repetition.
-
The most important aspect
of this exercise is
activation of the TVA
without turning on the
“crunch” muscles (rectus
abdominus). You should feel
yourself get skinny as you
exhale without any “bearing
down” with the rectus
abdominus.
-
For optimal results,
perform 10 repetitions of
this exercise, holding the
TVA contraction for 10
seconds on each repetition.
Performing 1-3 sets of this
exercise daily will create a
solid foundation of deep
abdominal strength and get
you on your way to building
a Strong And Stable Spine!
Learning how to activate
muscles that stabilize your
spine is ESSENTIAL in
overcoming and preventing
back pain!
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