Core work is now quite a buzzword. People know that strong abs help your back. But if you’re doing lots of crunches and core work and your back pain is not improving what should you do? More crunches? Probably not.
When I do abdominal work with people I always approach it as spinal work. The abdominal muscles both stabilize and mobilize the spine. That coveted 6 pack is not necessarily the solution to back pain. What is important is having a spine that can move in all directions and can be stable when it needs to be, like during lifting things or sitting for long periods of time. Doing crunches don’t really help your spine have functional range of motion. Most of us are curled over a desk too much so doing more curling exercises to help this doesn’t really make the most sense! Our spine needs to flex, extend, side bend and rotate. Pilates exercises will let you experience all of these in a safe, gentle and effective way. You can limit the range according to your body’s ability and increase as you are able. By moving your spine you are strengthening the abdominal muscles in a functional way and keeping your spine supple, mobile and giving it the decompression that the discs need. By focusing on full body movements you’re teaching your body to work in healthy harmony. Muscles work in groups, not isolation. The Pilates exercises will help your body be able to do life tasks better, walking, running, reaching, bending and anything else you can do.
Doing core work that has no relationship to actual human movement will not make your back stronger. Teaching your body to move will give you much more than a 6 pack, it will give you a body that can function and thrive in activities.
If you are struggling with pain and the exercises are not giving you relief from pain or better quality of life you might want to try Pilates. It’s designed for the whole body and is so much more than core. Stop crunching and start moving!
Solara Pilates 