Strickland Fitness

80% of all people will suffer from lower back pain in their life. A lot of times this pain is not caused from injury, but from overcompensation from weak abdominals. Strong abdominals help to make a strong core which stabilizes the spine. When you are working for that ripped mid-section, you are also working to alleviate lower back pain.

The majority of back pain sufferers are in a career where they are in a seated position for most of the day. Sitting at a computer or desk is basically being in a crunch position the whole time. This isolated crunch position elongates the back muscles which weakens them over time. When Sean Renninger from Integrity Sport and Fitness (www.integritysportandfitness.com) trains his clients with lower back pain, he puts emphasis on lengthening the abdominal muscles besides shortening them. “Doing crunches”, Sean says, “is a fundamental movement that everybody knows, but does not serve the true function of the abs which is to protect and support the spine and lower back.”

If working the abdominals has become a major part of your workout routine, be sure to concentrate on the lengthening of the muscle as much as the shortening or contracting of the muscle. This will help to strengthen your abs, strengthen your back, strengthen your core, and stabilize your spine. A stabilized spine is a great prevention to lower back pain and injury.

Believe it or not, you have a 6-pack. You may not see it, but it’s there. When you see someone with ripped abs, you are seeing what fat normally hides. Crunches, sit ups, leg raises, and all the ab machines you see advertised on TV strengthen and shape your abs, but it’s the eating right and fat burning that makes them appear. If you look carefully, anyone with rock hard abs has a low fat body to go with it.

Eating right and doing intense cardio (preferably intervals) are crucial partners to all the exercises you do to get ripped abs. All three help in the fat burning process necessary for your abs to come through. You could do thousands of crunches a day, but without the first two elements, you will have strong ripped abs underneath any fat you have over them.

Now let’s look at our “abs.” This term is short for Rectus Abdominus. This muscle is responsible for flexing the lumbar spine and the muscle you see on fit people. So you shouldn’t only train your abs for looks, but for postural support as well. A common misconception is doing exercises to train your lower and upper abs. The Rectus Abdominus is one muscle with no dividing line between upper and lower. There are other muscles that make up the complete abdominal area. These are the Transverse Abdominals, the Internal Obliques and the External Obliques. Different exercises train these different areas. You should be sure to train these other muscles as much as you train your Rectus Abdominus. This will keep your posture strong and help to give you a slim waist to match your new 10-pack!