Back & Spine: Level 2 Excercises
Abdominal Strengthening Level 2
Purpose
- To strengthen abdominal muscle.
Steps
- Lie on your back with knees bent. Place a towel in the small of your back.
- Keep your lower back pressed against the towel using your abdominal and buttock muscles.
- Straighten left leg and slowly lower it towards the floor.
- Straighten right leg and slowly lower it towards the floor.
- Alternate legs.
- Repeat 5-10 times.
Tips
- When unable to keep pressure on the towel with your lower back, Stop.
Goals
- Using the weight of your legs to create dynamic movement really flattens and engages the deep transverse abdominal muscles. Alternating legs also kicks your obliques into high gear to balance the shifting leg weight.
Bridging
Purpose
- To strengthen abdominals and stabilize low back.
Steps
- Begin by lying on your back, knees bent, and feet on the floor. Extend your arms out to steady yourself.
- Squeeze buttocks and raise your hips and lower back off the floor to form a straight line from your knees to your chest. Do not arch your back.
- Hold for 5-10 seconds and slowly return to starting position.
- Relax for 5 seconds.
- Repeat 5 times.
Tips
- Stay in a pain-free range.
Goals
- We consider this a building block to a good core stability program. Done correctly, it engages all of the key muscles needed for stability while performing functional exercises and sports.
Crunches
Purpose
- To strengthen your abdominal muscles and stabilize low back.
Steps
- Begin by lying on your back with knees bent, feet on the floor, and your hands resting beneath your head.
- Slowly curl your upper body toward your knees until your shoulder blades have cleared the floor. Keep your lower back against the floor by tightening your abdomen and buttock muscles.
- Hold for 5 seconds and then return to starting position.
- Relax for 5 seconds.
- Repeat 10 to 20 times.
Tips
- Don’t pull your head up with your hands.
- It is important to concentrate on feeling the strain in your abdominal muscles and not your neck or back.
- Try looking straight up to keep from pulling forward on your head.
Goals
- Crunches are primarily a core strengthening exercise which works the pectorals major, rectus abdominals, external obliques, internal obliques and transverse abdominals.
Half Sit-ups
Purpose
- To strengthen your abdominal muscles and stabilize low back.
Steps
- Begin by lying on your back, knees bent and feet on the floor with hands resting at your sides.
- Slowly raise head and shoulders and reach toward to touch your knees.
- Hold for 5 seconds.
- Return to starting position.
- Repeat 5-10 times.
Tips
- It is important to concentrate on feeling the strain in your abdominal muscles and not your neck or back.
Goals
- With a sit-up there is a portion of the movement where the stress comes off the muscle. That’s not true for the half sit-up. This keeps the stress on the abs throughout the exercise – there is no release from the stress on the abdominals. The lower back also gets some work, and that makes the half sit-up an excellent core movement.
Lateral Leg Splits
Purpose
- To strengthen hips and stabilize low back.
Steps
- Lay on your right side, resting your upper body weight on your elbow.
- Using your hand for balance, lift your left leg upward as high as is comfortably possible.
- Hold for 5 seconds and slowly lower to starting position.
- Repeat 10 times.
- Repeat with right leg.
Tips
- Be sure to keep your back straight.
Goals
- Stronger more stable hips and lower back