LITTLE ROCK — Personal trainer Janet Roget answers readers’ questions.
I read in a magazine that sit-ups are bad for your lower back. The article said we should only do these poses called planks. Is this for real?
What’s wrong with old-fashioned sit-ups? We did them every day in P.E. when I was a boy. Is that article overstating the situation?
- The Abdominator
A room full of fitness experts will answer this question in numerous ways. Most, however, will agree that exercises we did growing up might not be the best choice for us now. The science of physical fitness is advancing continually. Experts study the effects of exercises on the body, and as a result, some old school ways of doing things have been discarded because they cause more harm than good.
Abdominal muscles provide an important function for our body, beyond that of the six-pack look we see pictured in Men’s Fitness magazine. The abdominals contribute to spine stability in a variety of postures and allow us to bend over or to the side or to rotate the trunk.
The obsession with obtaining picture-perfect six-packs has left many people with ruined backs.
The abdominal muscles (combined with other muscles that encircle the spine) function as a girdle to protect the spine. If these core muscles are balanced in strength, the spine is upright and functions normally. If one group of muscles is overly strong, the spine is destabilized and pulled out of alignment.
This results in a chain of events that can start with lower back pain and lead to severe spine limitations.
Recent studies show that sit-ups and crunches can be detrimental to the health of the spine, especially when other core muscles are ignored. According to the research, if you do enough sit-ups, eventually your back will hurt. This is because backs are similar in a way to wire coat hangers. If a coat hanger is bent back and forth enough times, it will eventually weaken and break.The same process occurs with your back, even though your back lasts for many more back-and-forth cycles than a coat hanger.
It therefore makes sense for abdominal workouts to include only those exercises that do not require spinal flexion.
Sometimes just knowing that an exercise is bad for us doesn’t mean we will stop doing it. I once met with a client who sought my advice because he suffered excruciating wrist pain. At our first meeting, he could not shake my hand because his wrist hurt so much. I was puzzled about the cause of his pain until he told me he jumped rope for 45 minutes every day.
The puzzle was solved, but getting him to stop this daily routine, even for a short time to allow his wrists to heal, proved impossible.
He was emotionally attached to jumping rope and could not stop, in spite of his wrist pain.
While it is not easy to change exercise habits, the recent studies’ results demonstrate the need for a balanced approach that ensures a healthy back and a firmer belly. A core-strengthening program should emphasize all the major muscles that encircle the spine, including but not focusing on the abdominal muscles. This can be achieved by doing exercises such as elbow planks, stirring the pot, bird dog and cat to cow.
Elbow planks are perfected by placing a broom handle on the back and balancing the handle on the head, middle back and tailbone for the entire minute. Side elbow planks are performed either on one knee, both knees, or the feet (with the top leg in front) for up to a minute on each side.
Stirring the pot starts in a plank position with elbows on top of a stability ball and feet on the floor. Tighten the abdominal muscles while holding the plank, and without losing spinal alignment, move the ball by making small circles with the elbows.
Bird dog begins on all fours with hands under shoulders and knees directly under the hips. Lift one leg behind you, keeping the hips even, and at the same time extend the opposite arm in front of you, keeping it straight and close to the ear. Repeat this combination 10 times.
Cat to cow is a yoga exercise that allows the spine to flex and extend in a rhythmic motion. Begin the exercise on all fours with hands under shoulders and knees under hips. Inhale and lift the head and chest; push away from the floor with straight arms and allow the back to sag and the tailbone to lift. Exhale and drop your head, round your back, and tuck your tailbone. Perform 10 of these using smooth, rhythmic motions.
Mr. Abdominator might be able to continue doing his situps every day for the rest of his life without ever suffering from back pain. Or, if he doesn’t change his abdominal routine, he might have six-pack abs but a ruined back. A more balanced approach, as outlined above, would include adding new exercises that will strengthen his core, keep his back healthy and flatten his stomach all at the same time.
That fitness experts tell us to do exercises that are different from those we did growing up is in this instance a sign of progress. The football coach who taught my physical education class did not benefit from the information we have today. We should celebrate the advances in research that give us the knowledge to increase our capacity for positive change. Change for change’s sake is not positive.
Similarly, however, sticking to your old exercise routine out of fear or laziness is not positive. And while Mr. Abdominator should feel free to perform his old-fashioned sit-ups once in a while, he will be better off physically by embracing the balanced approach outlined above - in other words, by embracing change - than by sticking to his same routine.
Write to personal trainer Janet Roget in care of ActiveStyle at P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203, or e-mail [email protected]
ActiveStyle, Pages 23 on 02/25/2013