You’re Not Alone. Watch This!!!

High on the list of frequently asked questions Cat hears is, “How do I get rid of back pain when I’m doing ab exercises?”. If you’ve ever felt straining in your hip flexors or lower back while doing a core exercise, keep reading!

Cat Kom, trainer and founder of Studio SWEAT onDemand, joined up with Trainer Jessica to talk about what’s causing this pain and how to correct it. 

What is causing pain?

If you’re experiencing any pain in your lower back, hip flexors, and/or quads during ab exercises, it’s likely due to one of two things:

• Weak core. (Fun fact – your core might not be too weak to do certain exercises every day, it might just be that day.)
• Incorrect form. Specifically, let’s look at anterior (incorrect) vs posterior (correct) pelvic tilt.
  • Anterior: When standing with an anterior tilt, your booty will pop back, and if the pelvic area were a bucket of water, it would be tipping forward and water pouring out the front of you. You usually don’t want this positioning for ab exercises. You’ll feel it and it doesn’t feel great.
  • Posterior: Flip your hips, tucking your tailbone under. If your pelvic area were that same bucket of water, it’d be spilling out the back. You generally want to incorporate a posterior pelvic tilt into your core exercises.

What is the proper form for many common ab exercises?

1. Plank

a) Incorrect: If you do a plank with an anterior tilt, you’ll feel strain right away on your lower back.
b) Correct: When you move into plank position, tuck your tailbone, keeping a nice proud upper body. 

2. Face up/Supine movements (example: double leg extension)

a) Incorrect: With anterior tilt, your lower back will be off the ground and you’ll feel the strain in your back and hips.
b) Correct: Focusing on a posterior tilt, imagine pushing your lower back down into the floor. If you can’t keep your anterior tilt for these types of moves, a correction may be as simple as changing the angle of your legs. For example, if you’re doing a flutter kick, it may start when your feet are just a couple of inches off the ground. Try raising your legs up higher toward your chest to relieve the strain on your lower back.

3. V-position exercises – Russian Twist

a) Incorrect: Rounded upper back; over-rotating.
b) Correct: Keep your chest nice and proud with a very flat back and neutral neck. Tip back only as far as you can without any strain on your lower back. You may even find that holding the “V” position with your knees bent, feet on the floor, and your hands gently holding your knees is enough.

If you’re rotating for a Russian twist, the trainer may say, “Rotate your hands all the way to the floor. Lift your feet off the floor.” That full rotation or lifted feet may not be right for you. Listen to your body. It’s ok if just a small movement is all that you can do. All the way to the floor could jack your back which just isn’t the plan.

Don’t go for too long. If you feel any pain in the back, hip flexors, or quads, just stop and reset.

4. V-position exercises – Single-Leg Jackknife

a) Incorrect: Rounded back. If you don’t keep a flat back, you’re going to feel this where you shouldn’t (your back and hip flexors).
b) Correct: Cat likes to cue to lift your sternum toward the sky first as you raise your upper body. 

Cat’s Five Faves to Strengthen your Core (with a bonus from Jessica):

1. Deadbug

• Alternate knee/hand extensions.

2. Heel Taps

• This is a great exercise to strengthen your oblique muscles.
• On your back, with your feet on the floor, knees bent, lift your shoulders just off the mat. 
• With your arms straight at your sides, just off the floor, rock left to right reaching for your heels.

3. Superman

• Flip to your tummy with your arms and legs stretched out.
• Lift your arms and legs up off the floor just like Superman.
• This is Cat’s top favorite move and is often overlooked. Don’t forget to give your lower back some strengthening moves.

4. Plank

• You can plank low from your elbows or high plank for less intensity.
• To up the intensity, put your feet in TRX straps.

5. Single-Leg Jackknife

• Try straight legs, but switch to less intense bent knees if your body is asking for it.

6. Bonus: whole body moves

• Jessica likes to incorporate full-body work for extra core strengthening.
• Squats, deadlifts, and even holding a curl will ab-solutely strengthen your core too.

“No pain, no gain” is NOT the rule for your ab work, but “strong core, strong body” IS, so tuck that tushy and get all the bennies of strong abs. And for lots of great ab workouts with Cat and Jessica, check out a Free Trial over on Studio SWEAT onDemand! Download the app, or if you happen to live in southern California, visit us in our San Diego studio.