In this clip, I’ll show you how to activate one of the MOST important muscles to address with regards to lower back pain. This muscle, called the transverse abdominus, is essentially a ‘corset’ for the spine. Dysfunction in this muscle is VERY common in individuals with back pain, and restoring its function is a key objective for reducing further episodes of pain.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQM7SUT4bAE
Training the transverse abdominus is best done by using the Stabilizer Pressure Biofeedback device. Its very accurate, and is the primary tool used in research. You can easily find it online for the lowest price.
How to Activate the Transverse Abdominus
In the video above you saw what the correct positioning of the body and cuff is. Once in the correct position, the instruction is:
“Draw in your abdominal wall without moving your spine or pelvis and hold for 10 seconds while breathing normally.”
Doing this motion may require a bit of practice. The inability to do it perfectly the first time around does not necessarily mean the muscle is dysfunctional, but instead you may simply not be aware of how to actively isolate it.
To instruct the proper activation of the muscle, I use a variety of techniques, but I find it most helpful to review the basic anatomy of the abdominal muscles with the person visually, and go through the process of contracting each muscle so the distinction becomes clear between them all. Once this is done, it becomes much easier to accomplish the task.
Does it work to alleviate back pain?
This is a debate that is akin to the raging fire within the therapeutic field. My experience with transverse abdominus training is that it has been helpful in cases where not much movement can be done due to very acute back pain. For example, when a disc bulge is “hot” and referring pain down the leg, and any movement can make the pain worse.
In these cases I find it helpful to activate very deep stabilizer muscles to encourage breaking up the muscle spasms and guarding. Its certainly better than laying in bed doing nothing! Therefore, it DOES have its place, but frankly, I’m not sure in the greater picture how much dysfunction in the transverse abdominus can be fully corrected by isolating the muscle itself vs. a total body approach to rehabilitation of the movement system.
I always advise addressing the body as a whole and not get lost in trying to fix every little muscle dysfunction you can find!