Abdominal exercises

Cases studies Aims of the exercises Rules for performance of exercises Abdominal exercises Lower abdominals Pelvic tilt while standing Pelvic tilt in decubitus position Balancing of knees Elevation of knees in suspension Oblique and transversus Upper abdominals Paravertebral exercises Cervical-dorsal exercises Exercises for glutei and quadriceps Dorsal-lumbar stretches Cervical-dorsal stretches Ischio-tibial stretches

Lower abdominals:

Knee balancing

Lie on your back (dorsal decubitus position) with your knees bent, soles of your feet on the floor and arms stretched and hands resting, with the palms against the floor, next to your thighs. If it is more comfortable, your hands may also be crossed behind your head, without pushing it forward. Make sure that the entire spine is firmly resting on the floor.

Look toward your navel, to force you to bend your neck forward and rest the entire spine on the floor. You may keep your head supported on a pillow or cushion; the aim is to keep this position as comfortably as possible for you.

Now lift your knees toward your shoulders. It is normal that your knees shall fail to touch them.

From this starting point, fix the upper part of the trunk and the head and, keeping them still, slowly lift your buttocks off the floor, vertically upward, balancing them, and make your knees, with each movement, get closer to your shoulders. Once you have reached a position in which your buttocks are as raised as possible, hold this position for at least 1 second.

You must watch out for three things:

• First, this movement may be carried out only with the psoas, which would be useless and even counterproductive. In order to really make the abdominals work, imagine that a horizontal bar crosses you from left to right just under the rib cage or under your navel, and try to wrap yourself around it. You must not directly move your knees; it must be the contraction of the abdominals which causes the rocking.
• Secondly, if you do this movement correctly ("wrapping yourself around" the imaginary bar) your spine will not separate from the the floor, and on each rocking movement you will only notice how your buttocks lift up from the floor toward your head. If you should note that you are arching your back - making an arch between the lumbar spine and the floor - this means the exercise is being incorrectly performed. Stop and start again paying attention to how you do it.
• Thirdly, when you lift your buttocks and rock your knees, you must do this only as a result of pelvic movement. Neither the chest nor the head must get closer to the knees, and you must make sure they are both fixed and immobilized. Due to the contraction of the lower abdominals, the pelvis will move forward and the knees will approach the chest. If you do it like this, you will notice the muscular effort in the lower part of the abdominals and the pelvis. If you should also move the chest toward the knees, you will notice the pull in the upper abdominals and the lower rib area. If this is so, stop and start again, ensuring that your chest is perfectly still.