Questions Answered

I’ve received two good questions that I’d like to answer.  One of them concerns reducing the inflammation of soft tissue found in the scratch test.  Unfortunately, I’m not qualified to give an in-depth answer.  Many times this inflammation is from overuse injuries such as repetative flexion through the spine (which would lead to inflammation of the low back).  I will ask Chris Nentarz and get a better answer, hopefully by Saturday.

The second question comes from Chandler Cooper.  He’d like to know safer and more effective exercises that can be done instead of crunches and sit-ups:

We should first be aware that around 85% of our abdominal muscles run either obliquly (diagonal), horizontally or somewhere in between.  The only abdominal muslce that runs vertical (to the best of my knowledge) is the rectus abdominus, a.k.a. the six pack.  When performing crunches, the primary mover in the exercise is the rectus abdominus.  So, when you do a crunch, you are essentially only working around 15% of your abdominal muscles.  Think about it.  People go to the gym and do an abdominal workout… and miss out on exercising most of the muscles!  I can think of a multitude of other exercises that will get me better productivity in a shorter amount of time.

So what other exercises can we do?  Here are a few examples:  Bridging exercises, Bird-dog, stability ball exercises, medicine ball rotations

So I can’t work my six-pack?  No, not necessarily.  There are versions of an abdomial curl-up that have been proven safe for the lower back.  One is offered by spine expert Stuart McGill, author of “Low Back Disorders: Evidence-based Prevention and Rehabilitation”.  I recommend that you first have your hands under your low back to be sure low back movment is minimal:

• One leg is bent with the knee flexed to 90° while the other leg remains relaxed on the floor.

• No cervical (upper spine) motion should occur, either chin poking or chin tucking.

• For anyone experiencing neck discomfort, place the tongue on the roof of the mouth behind the front teeth, which helps to promote stabilizing neck muscle patterns.

• Brace the abdominals. This involves tightening the abdominal muscles as if you’re about to take a punch in the gut. When the brace is performed correctly, the abdominal wall is neither hollowed in nor pushed out.

• Curl up against the brace, and then breathe deeply in the “up” curl-up position while maintaining the brace. Remain in the up position long enough to take a few deep breaths.