Most people with lower back pain are unable to correctly activate their abdominal muscles. This often leads to the person carrying a lot more tension and stress in their spine and spinal muscles rather than their abdominals. Continual incorrect neural activation of the abdominals will lead to lower back pain and muscular dysfunction.
Don't do crunches!
Abdominal crunches even on a fitball do not activate your deep abdominals that help protect your back. In fact doing sit ups and crunches can increase the dysfunction in associated muscles leading to an even weaker abdominal core.
Use your TVA
Transverse Abdominus (TVA) is the deepest abdominal muscle, this muscle wraps around your body, it is like having a built in weight belt. When you activate your Transverse abdominus it activates the spinal muscles transferring stress out of the spine and the back muscles into the abdominal region redcing the stress and pressure in your back.
There are no Lower abdominals
Many personal trainers and allied health professionals do not separate the lower and upper abdominal region when trainer or doing rehabilitation exercises. The abdominals are actviated by eight separate nerves, with a distinct difference between the nerves that innervating the abdominals muscle above and below the belly button (Goththwaite 1943). Therefore it is possible train the abdominal muscles from either end of its attachments (the ribs or the pelvis).
A person can have well condition upper abdominals yet have poorly conditioned weak lower abdominals. This is often displayed as poor tone with a pooch belly below the navel. This is extremely common in females after child birth, a caesarean or hysterectomy.
By incorrectly training your abdominals your lower abdominals, transverse abdominals and oblqiues will atrophy over time. This will leading to a weaker abdominal region that is not able to support your lower back.
For information on back pain and how to prevent back pain, go to http://www.lifestyleessentials.com.au
By Simon Fox
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