Abdominal Exercises.
The goal to training your abdominals safely is to reduce compression loads on the lower back spine and limit bending forces to a minimum. Along those lines, the following exercise developed by Stuart McGill, PhD does an excellent job. It is essentially a trunk curl-up. Another exercise is the Dead-Bug. It creates enough tension in the abdominal muscles to foster a training effect.
The goal to training your abdominals safely is to reduce compression loads on the lower back spine and limit bending forces to a minimum. Along those lines, the following exercise developed by Stuart McGill, PhD does an excellent job. It is essentially a trunk curl-up. Another exercise is the Dead-Bug. It creates enough tension in the abdominal muscles to foster a training effect.
TRUNK CURL-UP (click to see video)
Lie on your back with one hand under the small of your back and the other behind your head, or both hands under your back as illustrated. Curl up until your should blade comes off the floor and without poking your chin out. At first you can keep your elbows on the floor for support but to make it more difficult keep them up. Once you are curled-up, hold for 2-3 seconds. Lower yourself slowly and repeat until tired. Increase hold times and reps at you improve.
DEAD-BUGS (click to see video)
Lie on your back with your hand under the small of your back. Opposite arm and leg are straight out on the floor. Tighten your abs (core) and do not allow your back to lift up off of your hand as you bring your opposite hand and knee together. Repeat until tired and perform same procedure on the opposite side. At first, to make it easier, you can just raise an arm or a leg. The important thing is to use your abdominal strength to keep you back from arching off of your hand.
Lie on your back with one hand under the small of your back and the other behind your head, or both hands under your back as illustrated. Curl up until your should blade comes off the floor and without poking your chin out. At first you can keep your elbows on the floor for support but to make it more difficult keep them up. Once you are curled-up, hold for 2-3 seconds. Lower yourself slowly and repeat until tired. Increase hold times and reps at you improve.
DEAD-BUGS (click to see video)
Lie on your back with your hand under the small of your back. Opposite arm and leg are straight out on the floor. Tighten your abs (core) and do not allow your back to lift up off of your hand as you bring your opposite hand and knee together. Repeat until tired and perform same procedure on the opposite side. At first, to make it easier, you can just raise an arm or a leg. The important thing is to use your abdominal strength to keep you back from arching off of your hand.