Who needs a six pack when you've got a keg?! - Abdominal Strengthening

Your abdominal muscles are a big part of your core muscle group. They're responsible for helping to support the trunk, protect your viscera, hold organs in place by controlling internal abdominal pressure, and a variety of physical movements. Your abdominals actually consist of 4 muscles:  
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1. Rectus abdominus - Lumbar flexion (forward bend of lower back like when doing a sit-up)
2. Transverse abdominus - Compresses abdominal contents (sucking in your gut)
3. Internal oblique - Abdominal compression assisting in exhalation, and ipsilateral rotation 
4. External oblique - Flexion of torso and contralateral rotation (forward bending and twisting)

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Rectus abdominus

Transverse abdominus

​External + Internal obliques

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Your abdominals play a huge role in stabilizing your back. They act as an anchor for muscles of the mid and lower back, in fact your abdominals are one of the first muscles to contract when you require stabilization! For example if you're standing still and then raise your arm out to your side, you would think you're only really using your shoulder muscles but what's actually happening is that your abdominals contract first to keep you steady, only then does your shoulder muscle contract to lift your arm. Your brain and nervous system coordinates the activation of your abdominals without you even thinking about it so that you can maintain your balance and stability. Pretty cool!

Quality posture is also supported by strong abdominal muscles. If your abs are weak then it causes your belly to protrude forward and your pelvis to tilt forward. This poor posture shifts your centre of gravity and places more pressure on your spinal nerves, discs, joints and ligaments. Strengthening your abdominals improves the endurance of your back muscles which means less fatigue and being less vulnerable to strain or injury.

Let's take a look at a few simple abdominal strengthening exercises that you can start incorporating at home!

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Leg Raises

1. Lay supine on a flat surface
2. (Optional) To reduce pressure on your sacrum,  make a diamond shape with your thumbs and index fingers and place your hands underneath your sacrum (the bone  below your lower back that is making contact with the flat surface)
3. Keep both legs straight and raise them simultaneously (note: the less you raise them, the more challenging it will be)
4. Slightly lower both legs simultaneously (note: if fatigued then let your heels touch the floor before raising legs again, otherwise don't let your heels touch the floor for more of a challenge)

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Cross Body Plank

1. Start in a pushup position
2. Lift and extend an opposite leg and arm
3. Hold this position ensuring your extended arm and leg stay parallel to the floor
4. With the extended arm and leg, try to touch your elbow to your knee
5. Fully extend the arm and leg again and repeat

Note 1: If too difficult then you can stop at step 3 and just hold that position (if this is still too difficult, then you can start on all fours instead of pushup position)
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Note 2: Another variation to reduce difficulty is at step 2 to only extend a leg while keeping both hands flat on the floor. With that extended leg, bring your knee towards your opposite elbow (this variation is an exercise called a mountain climber)

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Side Plank Push Up

1. Begin in a pushup position
2. Start to perform a pushup
3. As you are pushing yourself up, turn your body and raise your arm up towards the sky (you are now in a side plank)
4. Try to ensure that you maintain a straight back and not to let your hip drop towards the floor when you are in the side plank

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Note: For a bit more of a challenge, hold the side plank position for a few seconds before returning to pushup position to repeat the exercise

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Bicycle Crunches

1. Start in supine position on floor with hands on temples
2. Bend a knee towards your chest, then extend it out
3. While that leg is extending, bend your other knee towards your chest
4. Alternate back and forth until you have a good rhythm (like pedaling a bicycle)
5. This time as you bring a knee to your chest, try to touch your opposite elbow to that knee
6. Continue pedaling and touching opposite elbow to knee

Note: As you are trying to touch your elbow to your knee, you should be slightly lifting your chest off the floor (like when performing a crunch) so that you feel your abdominals engaging

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None of the abdominal strengthening exercises shown should cause any numbness, tingling or pain. If you feel any discomfort or imbalance during any of these exercises then please stop. Consult your Chiropractor, it might be time to have your spine checked. Click HERE to make an appointment.

Remember to keep breathing steadily as you perform these exercises. If you notice yourself holding your breath, you're depriving your muscles of oxygen! To really focus your breathing, concentrate on breathing out as you engage your abdominal muscles, and then breathing in as your body returns to neutral/starting position. 

If you have not been active or worked out your abs in a while, you may feel some muscle soreness or tightness the next day. Your abdominal muscles recover very quickly, so feel free to try out these strengthening exercises daily and feel the difference it will make!  Just be sure to pace yourself based on your tolerance and your current level of activity.

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Thrive Chiropractic
214 Wellington Street
Kingston, ON
K7K 2Y7
(613) 217-1560