Ab work that’s easy on the lower back

[Atom Smasher]

Hey guys, I need to work on the abs but I have a very bad lower back. It was fractured 10 years ago. Had L1 and L2 fused and now I get a lot of pain below that area, especially on my left side. Most of that pain flairs up when lifting or carrying heavy objects.

I do what I can with normal lifting, for example, I use a curling bench to get that stress off my lower back.

Is there anything I can do to strengthen my abs and my core in general that is not too hard on the lower back?

 

[Bible_Belt]

Brazilian jiu jitsu was always a great ab workout for me. If you can get a mat to lay on, exercises like leg lifts work the abs. Stretching and flexibility is the real benefit, which prevent future injuries.

 

[ubercat]

Similar problems with back coz I ve got a sports hernia and back tightens up trying to protect the area. So...

Reclining exercycle.

Weighted walking. Cans of beans in a backpack for a start.

Dummbell weights on the bed with both legs bent like u were doing crunches.

I stay away from pressing movements as I m maintaining my shoulders for tennis. PM me if you d like specifics.

 

[DEEZEDBRAH]

I am doing variations of levers on rings.

YouTube fitness faq. The kid is a G. You can do this variation and not worry about the torque you have from crunches.

Lastly, abs made in the kitchen not the gym. Diet bro. Static holds in variations in a lever like position likely less aggressive on your back.

 

[DEEZEDBRAH]

Similar problems with back coz I ve got a sports hernia and back tightens up trying to protect the area. So...

Reclining exercycle.

Weighted walking. Cans of beans in a backpack for a start.

Dummbell weights on the bed with both legs bent like u were doing crunches.

I stay away from pressing movements as I m maintaining my shoulders for tennis. PM me if you d like specifics.

You fellas should look up and ig youtube Ido.

 

[ubercat]

What is this tube you young sprout ?

 

[ubercat]

We have and tried a lot of it. I ve posted the results - what s worked for me.

 

[AttackFormation]

My ab exercise is weighted planks (but I flex and release for reps like a normal set instead of just being static), and one of the reasons why is that it doesn't rely on tensing your hip flexors. Any ab exercise that involves tensing your hip flexors is likely to aggravate your back, because your hip flexors are likely to already be tight due to chronic sitting aggravated by lack of stretching and a conversely weakened posterior chain. So when the hip flexors flex further it'll pull on the lumbar bones that the psoas muscle is connected to, and cause stiffness and a wearying pain.

Hope you find a solution.

 

[eli77]

planks all the way

 

[metalwater]

if wanting to get definition of abs, just lowering body fat can do it if already have muscle under. if you can still sprint, that can help pop out the abs some. when older, the fat over the abs can be the last to go. if you had a physical therapist for the recovery and still have a contact with them they probably could suggest something that would be safe.

 

[sosumba]

I would advice not to do planks if you have back problems.

 

[xplt]

I've back problems and exercices that I can perform without issues are russian twists, side planks, leg raises on dip station i.e.

My doc told me not to deadlift, but it was the only exercice, that nearly eliminanted my problems and gave me a strong back again.
I started with romanian deadlifts.

 

[speed dawg]

Hey guys, I need to work on the abs but I have a very bad lower back. It was fractured 10 years ago. Had L1 and L2 fused and now I get a lot of pain below that area, especially on my left side. Most of that pain flairs up when lifting or carrying heavy objects.

I do what I can with normal lifting, for example, I use a curling bench to get that stress off my lower back.

Is there anything I can do to strengthen my abs and my core in general that is not too hard on the lower back?

Yoga did the trick for me. Loosened me up the point to where I have no real pain. I had a microdiscectomy in 2008. After that, you can start doing normal ab exercises again, that I never thought I'd be able to do.

Don't just accept the back pain. Yoga can cure it.

 

[Dancore]

During such training, I tore my back once. It was very painful to move and I spent several days in bed. After that, my back sometimes hurts, especially when I do household chores, so my doctor advised me to use belt for back pain Ortorex, which really supports the lower back very well and doesn't allow you to overextend weak muscles, but allows you to train them.

 

[Lookatu]

if wanting to get definition of abs, just lowering body fat can do it if already have muscle under. if you can still sprint, that can help pop out the abs some. when older, the fat over the abs can be the last to go. if you had a physical therapist for the recovery and still have a contact with them they probably could suggest something that would be safe.

I agree.

I was doing the regular situps and didn't really get any good results this whole time because I was just bulking up my stomach muscles but the fat on top of it wasn't really burning off as fast. When I hurt my lower back, I started to do leg raises and bicycle situps and it's helped me not only tone my stomach muscles under my fat but burned more of the fat as well. This has made really big difference for me. Now I just do these exercises for my stomach. I twirl my legs to the right for one set though when doing leg raises then switch and twirl to the left in the next set. Your miles may vary...

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Hey guys, I need to work on the abs but I have a very bad lower back. It was fractured 10 years ago. Had L1 and L2 fused and now I get a lot of pain below that area, especially on my left side. Most of that pain flairs up when lifting or carrying heavy objects.

I do what I can with normal lifting, for example, I use a curling bench to get that stress off my lower back.

Is there anything I can do to strengthen my abs and my core in general that is not too hard on the lower back?

Planks. Start out holding it for 30 seconds and then try and increase each day 5-10 seconds until you reach 4 or 5 minutes. Without a doubt one of the most effective and best core exercises you could possibly do.

Once you reach that goal then you can start experimenting with different types of planks to make it more challenging or add some weight to your upper back.

You could literally get a 6 pack from only doing planks and no other ab exercises.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Also, this will eliminate lower back issues very quickly. It's called foundation training and it is amazing. I has severe lower back issues and tightness from deadlifting heavy weights to the point after I would do it, my back would tighten up so badly that I couldn't even bear to sit in a car and drive home for at least 30 minutes after. The pain was unbearable.

After 2 months of this my back pain and tightness went away and never returned. As he says in the video, "if you do this everyday, no back pain ever". And he knows what he is talking about, he is a very well respected chiropractor. This simply works, it looks easy at first until you do it and then after a few weeks you will probably realize you are not even doing the moves correctly at first and then it will get even more challenging once you make the adjustments...

I still do this 3-4 times a week...as a bonus, jist doing this will give you explosive growth in your hamstrings and glutes from all the isometric work being done. It trains your body to properly use the posterior chain correctly.

 

[lost_blackbird]

Planks. Start out holding it for 30 seconds and then try and increase each day 5-10 seconds until you reach 4 or 5 minutes. Without a doubt one of the most effective and best core exercises you could possibly do.

Once you reach that goal then you can start experimenting with different types of planks to make it more challenging or add some weight to your upper back.

You could literally get a 6 pack from only doing planks and no other ab exercises.

I start my gym routine with at least a 4min30s plank. (5mins 30 is my personal best so far) Acts as a good warm up for me. Later on in the workout I do 3 sets on the abdominal machine, 20 reps with 50kg resistance weight to wake everything up, then 40 in two sets with 36kg to save on back strain. I'm not 100% ripped on the abdomen yet, that's me in the profile pic but as said it's the last place you'll shift excess weight from if you are a man, especially one in my age group. The rest of the work needed is done in the kitchen for sure.

 

[RickTheToad]

Kettle bell workouts are amazing. Look into them.

 

[lost_blackbird]

New Plank PB today. Broke the 6 minute barrier, 6m09s to be precise.