Many of you may have experienced back pain from doing abdominal exercises, or you may have back pain but want to strengthen your abdominal muscles. In this article, I will introduce some abdominal exercises that are less stressful on the lower back for such people.
In 2016, he began working as a trainer as a member of Beyond Gym’s start-up staff. Served as store manager of the Horie store in Osaka, Japan; in 2017, he reached the pinnacle in the Mr. Japan contest, after which he went independent. In October 2022, he founded Waffle Gym in Tachikawa, Tokyo. He is always ready to propose muscle training menus that meet the needs of customers.
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Why does abdominal training cause lower back pain?
First, we will introduce the causes of back pain from abdominal training. If you can think of any of them, try to correct them immediately.
(1) The lower back is bent over during the movement.
One of the main causes of lower back pain during abdominal muscle training is a warped back. A bent back makes it difficult to apply force to the abdominal muscles, which puts strain on the muscles and bones around the lower back and causes pain. Therefore, it is important to perform sit-ups while keeping the lower back firmly on the floor. However, there may be some people who inevitably have a skeletal problem that causes them to have a warped back. In such cases, the cause of the arched back can be attributed to “low abdominal muscle strength” or “low flexibility in the thigh and pelvic area. It is recommended that you first try the abdominal exercises and yoga poses introduced in this article to reduce back pain, and then gradually improve your back pain.
[related article] 5 muscle training exercises for back pain! Simple workouts you can do at home.
(2) Poor flexibility of the back muscle group
In abdominal muscle training that involves lying on one’s back and raising the upper body, flexibility of the back muscle group, which is the antagonist muscle of the abdominal muscle group, is required. This is because the abdominal muscles contract and the back muscles extend when the upper body is raised. However, if the flexibility of the back muscles is extremely low, the back muscles are forcibly pulled as the upper body is raised, causing pain. In addition, the back muscles are not fully extended, making it difficult to move the abdominal muscles well, which can lead to poor form and strain on the lower back. If the flexibility of the back muscle group is low, even daily activities can easily strain the lower back. To prevent and improve lower back pain, the flexibility of the back muscle group should be improved through stretching and myofascial release.
[ Related article ] What is myofascial release? A professional lecture on how to do it for stiff shoulders, back pain, and swelling.
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(3) Doing sit-ups with recoil
Especially common among exercise beginners, sit-ups with recoil can also cause lower back pain. As shown in the video below, if you continue to use the force of your hands to raise your upper body, you can easily injure your lower back and provide little stimulation to your abdominal muscles. As with any discipline, not just abdominal training, try not to use recoil, as careful and correct form is the shortcut to an ideal body.
What points should I be aware of when doing sit-ups?
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