Abdominal Exercise for the 21st Century

November 17th, 2010

People are always looking for a new “Abdominal” exercise.  Abdominal and Core exercises seem to be the most popular exercises in fitness magazines and on training websites.  Infomercials for gadgets claiming to “trim fat off your mid-section” and “tone your abs” are on TV all the time.

At Sports and Orthopedic Leaders, we see the core as a key part of every training program and we have many different exercises that work the core.  The core is a term used to describe the muscles of the trunk that stabilize the spine.  These muscles include the abdominals, obliques, and low back muscles.  However, most of our exercises focus on core stability over movement and range of motion of the spine.  Core stability is essential for any athletic movement, and most low back injuries are caused by having too much motion (lack of stability) in the low back.

One expert on the subject of lower back injuries and core training is Stuart McGill.  He is a professor of spine mechanics in Ontario, and he has been performing research on back pain and back injuries for the past decade.  In his book “Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance,” McGill explains that “traditional” abdominal exercises that focus on spinal motion can cause lower back injuries and should not be performed because of increased stress on the spine.  Typical “abdominal” exercises such as crunches, sit-ups and bicycles should not be used to train the back due to increased shear forces on the vertebrae and the discs of the lower back.  Also these exercises tend to over-work the hip flexors since they tend to focus on movement of the spine instead of stability.

So the question is: What are some better exercises to train the abdominals to stabilize the spine without increasing the stress on the vertebrae and the discs?

The answer is my favorite Core Stability exercise: Stability Ball Rollouts.

To start the exercise place a mat on the floor and kneel on it with a large stability ball right in front of you.  Put your hands on top of the ball in a ‘karate chop’ position with your thumbs up.  (See Figure 1 below.)

Figure 1

Tighten your core muscles and brace to stabilize your spine.  Holding in this position, slowly lean forward and roll your hands forward on the ball.  Roll forward on the ball, hold for 5 seconds and then return to the starting position while keeping your core muscles braced.  (See Figure 2 below.)

Figure 2

The key to this exercise is to keep your back in neutral spine position, do not let your back arch excessively, and do not let your back round or curl.  Your spine should stay in the same position throughout the exercise. Repeat this exercise 5 times and take a break.  You should not feel any pain in your low back or neck with this exercise.  Discontinue the exercise if you feel any back or neck pain.

This exercise trains the abdominals and obliques to stabilize the spine as the arms raise over the head and the trunk leans forward.  If you look at the spine throughout the exercise, the spine is not moving.  The Core muscles are working to stabilize the spine throughout the movement.  With this exercise you will feel your ‘abs’ working.  It is a tough exercise.

This exercise is a core endurance exercise for the 21^st century.

Stop working out in the 1980s, and start helping your body not hurting it!

No more crunches!

Written by: Jamie Faison, ATC, CSCS

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