Core Exercise Hurts?
I get asked everyday about core exercises. Patients will say, Core Exercise hurts me? There is a lot of questionable information out there regarding this topic. Most people have been told by a personal trainer or an infomercial that they need to do sit ups or leg lifts to work their core. And this information is the cause of most peoples lower back problems. To understand why we need to start with an anatomy lesson. We need to look at the primary muscles involved in a sit up and a leg lift.
The rectus abdonimus (Abs) and the psoas (Hip Flexor) muscles. The abdominals attach from the lower rib cage and insert on to the pubic bone. The Psoas muscles attach on the lower lumbar spine and insert on the hip bone. So if you look at the action of a leg lift and a full sit up the legs are involved directly. But most people are told that this will strengthen their abs and core. But the abs don’t attach to the hips, so this must not be true. You can now see that the muscle that is being worked is the psoas. So you must be wondering, ok whats wrong with that?
Well the psoas is a muscle that is already shortened and over worked in most people from sitting all day. So if you exercise it more and continue to shorten it, over time the stress that it cause on you lower lumbar spine will bead to lower back pain and disc pathology. Now most people will ask next, why do I feel it in my abs? The answer to this question is that the psoas and the abdominal as antagonist muscles meaning that they to the exact opposite action. So you are using your abdominal muscles to fight the action of the psoas muscles. This is not necessarily a bad thing at first but the psoas muscles are much stronger and will out last the weaker abdominal muscles.
This leads to shear forces on the lower lumbar spine and is why people will start to develop lower back pain during and after these exercises. Now that you have a little understanding as to why these exercises may be causing your lower back problems, we need to talk about how to fix and prevent lower back pain. I recommend that you only do crunches and never do any abdominal exercises that involve you lifting your legs or a sit up that requires you to lock your feet down. I know that is basic but you can add a twist to the crunches and if you do them slow and squeeze had they will be all you can handle.
Next for the core I would recommend that you incorporate some stretching and strengthening of the hamstrings, glutes, and posterior chain muscles of the spine. For more specific guidance and videos I encourage you to check out our free APP (mychirotown.com use code RCD0001) and I have links to many videos and examples of all these exercises. I really like the information put out by Dr. Eric Gordon of the Foundation Training program. Also you may also want to search the Gokhale Method and get more information on better ways to sit at work. If you need more information please feel free to call our office and schedule a time for us to discuss your specific concerns.
If Core Exercise Hurts you, please contact us at Reed Chiropractic ASAP to find out why.
