How To Improve Lower Back Stability
The term “stability training” has been thrown around quite a bit in the last couple of years, as the fitness community has gone core training crazy. The problem is, however, most of the gimmicks being used for this so called stability training are simply entertaining at best, and unfortunately do not produce the kind of results that they are believed to.
The Issue of Stability:
Lower back stability, as well as stabilization of all joints in your body, is dependent first of all on optimal muscle balance. When muscle imbalances are present, meaning one muscle is stronger than its antagonist, the joint involved becomes distressed as it fights to maintain its homeostasis.
For example in the lower back, two muscles that have a relationship include the abdominal muscles, and the back extensors. The abdominals have the job of flexing the spine, which flattens the lower back, while the extensors extend the spine, creating an arch in the lower spine. More often than not, the spine has an excessive arch due to the prevalence of anterior pelvic tilt, particularly in the back pain population. This leaves the abdominal muscles in a “lengthened” state, and usually test weak.
In this situation, the lack of balance between the muscles that flatten and extend the spine creates a potential state of “instability” in the spine. It is a relative state, in that you may be stable picking up the newspaper in the morning, but when it comes to more intense efforts, such as playing a pickup game of basketball, or tennis, the instability becomes much more of an issue.
Correcting this stability issue involves identifying the weak muscles, which in this case would be the abdominals, and identifying the tight muscles, which again in this case may include the lower back muscles, and providing appropriate corrective procedures such as exercise and stretching.
The actual selection of exercises to do this would include the ones that work best to strengthen that muscle. If the abs are weak, then performing variations of the plank and/or crunch, will serve to strengthen them, and thus reduce the imbalance relative to the lower back muscles.
Corrective procedures must follow some form of flow, and make sense. Something more therapists need to be aware of, before starting to jump on the “core stability bandwagon”.
–Sam Visnic
How Your Abs Affect Lower Back Stability
You hear it time and time again….
“You have to strengthen your abs to get rid of pain in your back.”
I think thats pretty good advice…BUT…NO ONE tells you exactly how to do that! I’m going to let you in on a little secret:
DOING CRUNCHES WILL NOT HELP YOU OVERCOME BACK PAIN!
Yep. Thats right. Why? Simple.
How do most people, including those with back pain, stand? You guessing it, with pretty crappy posture. The chest is sunken, complete with forward head posture, and a pelvis that has a massive anterior pelvic tilt.
When the chest drops, and the shoulders round, commonly called a “upper cross syndrome”, then the upper portion of the abs are shortened, and usually tight. The lower portion of the abs, are usually weakened. (Yes, you do have lower abs, but not how you think, the muscle is separated NEUROLOGICALLY). The external and internal oblique muscles are usually the ones taking a nap. These muscles are responsible for the posterior tilt of the pelvis, which goes hand and hand with flattening the curve of the lower back.
If you look at the position you are in during a crunch, and and stand up from there, what do you get? Exactly…shitty posture. Sunken chest, etc. What I am saying is that performing crunches for the majority of the back pain suffering population will make MANY people much worse off.
What you NEED to focus on is strengthening the abdominal muscles which are primarily responsible for posteriorly tilting the pelvis, which are the obliques.
So…you may be wondering, “how the heck do I do that?”
Learning pelvic tilting, of course!
I’m going to shoot a few short clips with my cool little Flip video recorder this weekend, and I’ll post them up in a few days.
–Sam Visnic
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