Using Abdominal Muscles is Not Tightening or Pressing Navel to Spine
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
This week the headline news of British newspaper "The Daily Mail" followed up with inquiry into the incidence of back pain and injuries using the "drawing in" technique: Is Pilates bad for your back? (A minor note - they accompanied the otherwise good article with an incorrect photo depicting the opposite concept of back extension, not the unnecessary contracted abdominal tightening, which was the point of the article.) Pressing and tightening the abdominals has been an incorrect assumption made into ritual in the fitness industry for many years. However it is not the way your abdominal muscles work to do anything helpful to you.
When you bend your arm, you don't tighten your muscles to do it. In fact, you shouldn't want to. You just move your arm bones using your arm muscles. Abdominal muscles work the same way. You use them to move the body parts they attach to. Voluntarily. Strengthening or tightening won't make them move automatically. You may have a strong arm, but it isn't held up in the air automatically - only when you move it there. Strong, or even tight, abdominal muscles will not automatically support your back. Moving your spine into healthful position is the support.
- Note how the belt line tips down in front in the left-hand photo and the inward curve is exaggerated. This is hyperlordosis.
- Ab muscles attach from hips to ribs. When you don't use your abdominal muscles, your ribs lift up and the front of your hip tips down. The inward curve (or arch) in your lower spine increases (left-hand photo of the pair). Too much inward curve is called hyperlordosis, over-arching, and swayback.
- With over-arching, the lower back pinches and aches after long standing because you are letting the weight of your upper body press down on your lower spine. People with the bad habit of overarching often feel they need to lean over forward or sit to relieve the pain.
- To correct the source of the pain, tuck the bottom of the hip under (not push it forward) to lift up the belt-line in front and lower the ribs to level (right-hand photo). The action is like a pelvic tilt or crunch standing up. The large inward curve reduces to a smaller one. Upper body remains upright, not rounding forward.
- The muscles that move the ribs and hip to neutral spine and out of hyperlordosis are your abdominal muscles. Changing to neutral (right photo) gives a free built-in ab workout, with no tightening and no forward bending; just functional use of the abdominal muscles to hold your spine in healthy position during all you do.
See a short movie of moving from hyperlordosis to neutral spine (tuck hip to neutral) - Friday Fast Fitness - Neutral Spine in 5 Seconds
Another way to feel how to tuck to reduce hyperlordosis, using a wall like this - Fast Fitness - How to Feel Change to Neutral Spine
Click this for a description of what abdominal muscles really do:
What Abdominal Muscles Don't Do - The Missing Link
and this for the x-ray view of arching and fixing the arching:
Fixing the Commonest Source of Mystery Lower Back Pain
These short articles show how to use abs when standing and moving in daily life:
Healthier Backpack Carrying to Get Better Exercise and Stop Back Pain
Healthier Carrying - Get Free Ab Exercise and Stop Pain
These show you how to get better, more functional abdominal exercise than tightening or crunches and other forward bending:
Abdominal Muscle Exercise - Better, Different, Not What You Think
If Better Abdominal Muscles Are Your New Year's Resolution, Try This
Throw a Stronger Punch (or Push a Car or Stroller) Using This Back Pain Reduction Technique
Change Common Exercises to Get Better Ab Exercise and Stop Back Pain
Get the book that started the sea-change in understanding abdominal use and functional exercise - The Ab Revolution™ No More Crunches No More Back Pain.
Using your abdominal muscles to move your spine to neutral and out of injurious over-arched position during all you do is good exercise - without tightening.
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---Read success stories and send your own.
See if your answers are already here - click Fitness Fixer labels, links, archives, and Index.
For personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions.
Limited Class space for personal feedback. Top students may earn certification through DrBookspan.com/Academy. More fun in Dr. Bookspan's Books.
photo copyright © Dr. Jolie Bookspan from the book Fix Your Own Pain Without Drugs or Surgery
Labels: abdominal muscles, fix pain, lordosis, lower back, myths, neutral spine, strength
17 Comments:
At Friday, March 09, 2007 10:27:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
Just the other day I saw my cat contract her TA before rising and moving across the room. It's perfectly natural.
Just kidding!
Because I read your blog, I recognize that we live in a flexion-addicted society. I avoid strengthening the front of the body and focus on extension work instead. I don't believe in clenching muscles in order to move.
However, much of the exercise and rehab industry is focused on core strength. How do I navigate this safely? I know to avoid Yoga-Lattes classes, unnecessary flexion and TA clenching. What about Swiss Ball work? Paul Chek? Functional Fitness? The Plank?
At Friday, March 09, 2007 3:24:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Julia,
It is simple. When the spine is not in "neutral" position, you can get cartain kinds of back pain. "Tightening" does not move the spine into "neutral." "Neutral," as it relates to the pelvis, means the hip is not tilted forward or back (not sticking your backside out in back as many fitness programs promote). You control that by voluntarily moving your hip to neutral, not by tightening, not by strengthening. It takes a second or two to do.
If any exercise systems works and is healthy, I want to do it. That is why I do not do any of the systems out there. I studied what was needed, and developed a system that specifically retrains you to maintain healthful position *while* you get fun active healthy functional exercise. We named it The Ab Revolution™, because it is a whole change in thinking and use of the body back to health. The links in this "No Tightening" article give some of the fun things we do in the Ab Revolution. The Ab Revolution book gives more. Keep me posted how they work for you.
At Monday, March 12, 2007 3:16:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
Hi Dr Jolie - Much to my surprise, I have developed bigger biceps - a bonus I assure you. I can only assume it being because I have been doing on a daily basis for the past 15 months, your Isometrics for abs exercise.
Will this same exercise help us older women who have what I call the "flap" in the upper under arm area? Does this happen because of lack of exercise or is it something we have to accept as we age?
At Tuesday, March 13, 2007 2:07:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
It was so hot here the other evening so I had an early shower and was sitting here at my computer in just a sleeveless cotton nightdress. I happened to look down at my upper arms and what did I see but muscle for biceps instead of what I will call "pipis." Pipis are a small shell fish here in NZ. I can remember when I was a child showing my father that I had muscles in my arms and he would tell me that I had Pipis. I have put the muscle increase down to your Isometric exercise for abs using weights and wondered of this same exercise would help us older women for the tripep area. Triceps, what are they!!!!!
At Monday, March 26, 2007 3:58:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Ivy, you're right, the isometric ab exercise (from The Ab Revolution exercises) works your arms nicely. Lack of exercise weakens and softens arms. Exercise will keep them strong at all ages.
At Saturday, June 02, 2007 7:23:00 PM,
Unknown said…
Dr. Bookspan,
You have to admit that the first picture of the model with lordosis is just plain sexier.
In fact, it feels sexier to assume the first posture because your stomach is relaxed, which communicates to yourself and others that you feel accepted and accepting.
At Monday, June 04, 2007 1:24:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
David-
To some groups, if she were holding a crack cocaine pipe she would also be regarded as relaxed and sexy.
The point is that unhealthful practices have become so ingrained in populist thinking that they are falsely regarded as positive.
When you incorporate health as a lifestyle into your thinking, things that look unhealthy (first picture with hyperlordosis) are therefore not sexy.
At Wednesday, July 23, 2008 6:48:00 PM,
logikalbeats said…
Hi Dr. Jolie,
I have been a intense basketball player for the last 10 years, but have recently discovered that I do stand with my lower back pulled inward (lordosis). While correcting it to walk around is simple enough, while shooting around the other day I tried correcting it on the court, and it felt very awkward to say the least. Should I suck it up and keep trying to correct it even though it feels like I'm playing a whole new game or should I just worry about it while I walk. Thanks your help and all the great posts!?
At Monday, August 25, 2008 7:27:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Hi logicalbeats, good work seeing the overarch, correcting it during walking, and experimenting with correcting it during intense exercise. If you and I played basketball, I would not make all my shots, especially when I am moving quickly rather than just walking. Would you advise me to do? Practice perhaps, with assurance that once I have the right concepts, repetition will help application.
There are several posts that give ideas how to understand and feel the change. Try Fast Fitness - How to Feel Change to Neutral Spine and others you find by clicking the labels under the posts.
Enjoy neutral spine and all the free ab exercise without any tightening.
At Saturday, January 24, 2009 2:53:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
Great information, but I have to be honest..it seems like semantics to me.
Tightening vs. 'using' abs - your abs do tighten when you use them....there is no other way.
Also you state that just strengthening abs will not correct posture..good point but then you say that strengthen them incorrectly (crunches) can lead to worse posture, so I assume you mean increased pressure on the discs during the exercise as opposed to developing a 'hunched' posture due to the hunching during the crunch because then you would be admitting that repeated muscle contraction affects resting muscular tone...which you seem to suggest doesn't happen, but maybe you are simplifying the information. Anyways it's good info ... but I think any trainer worth a hill of beans will recognize that in order to reduce lordosis using your abs...you actually have to reduce the lordosis during the exercise weather the focus is "tightening" your abs or not..that's why it seems like semantics.
The info on TVA not helping back is interesting also...
At Thursday, February 12, 2009 7:53:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
A perceptive reader comment about not tightening was made by John to the post If Better Abdominal Muscles Are Your New Year's Resolution, Try This:
"Finally someone educated has said what i have thought for a long time. I have always tried to suck in my abs or tighten them but neither one worked and they only made my movements stiffer and less efficient. Just holding your spine in the correct position works a lot better. I have one question though? why do people go around telling people to "pull your navel to the spine" if it doesn't work? Don't they know it doesn't work? Haven't they tried it."
Posted by john to The Fitness Fixer at Wednesday, December 10, 2008 10:18:00 AM
At Thursday, February 12, 2009 7:58:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
To Will, tightening is not the movement skill needed - it's not semantics. Try this - move your arm to scratch your nose. You don't tighten your arm muscles (hopefully). See if you have the habit of tightening or clenching instead of moving fluidly. Do you tighten legs to run? Tighten neck muscles to talk? Someone without muscle dystonia shouldn't have to tighten the abdominal muscles just to move the spine enough to stand up straight (walk or move) without flopping into hyperlordosis. Tightness is a contributor to pain and muscle dysfunction issues, and impedes healthy strong movement. This post you replied to explains how and why movement is (should/could be) different from tightening.
At Saturday, June 06, 2009 4:27:00 AM,
Unknown said…
Dr. Bookspan...I've been searching for years for your research! I've had 2 major motorcycle accidents and after all kinds of "physical rehabilitation" I still suffer severe back pain. I've searched for many years for years for something to relieve the pain with no results until I came across your blog. I took a walk yesterday using the hip tuck and rather than just a 5 minute walk...I walked for over an hour! Although it's been just 1 day, I've been training my mind to walk correctly as well as using the squat method and I'm feeling so good!My question is...I'm feeling the muscles in my hips and thighs but not in my stomach. Am I "hip tucking" correctly?
At Friday, June 12, 2009 2:52:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Charles, great work. Welcome to getting your life back. All can keep getting better.
Sounds like you are correct and directly getting the needed length from the anterior muscles. This also gives them a functional built-in stretch that will relieve other problems.
Have fun using real life for your exercise, health building, and injury rehab all at once. Use all of Fitness Fixer - at this writing, nearly 600 posts. There is much on fixing back pain and injury. Don't leave anything hurting from poor use and bad body mechanics. That is not health. Use it all, get better quickly. Enjoy and send a post card J
At Tuesday, September 01, 2009 10:29:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
Jolie, Will makes the point here that I tried to make in another thread. Maybe you are trying to simplify the information and prevent people from over-tightening to the point of total muscle clench, but there are certainly some of us that know enough of how the body works to realise that if a muscle is doing something it is tightening - instructing not to tighten for these people is confusing and so counter-productive.
When you lift your arm etc. as you mention, you do in fact tighten the muscle, yes. It is a question of the *amount* of force required to lift the weight of your arm, against little other resistance, relative to the amount of tightening needed to straighten the whole spine against the resistance of overly tight muscles (e.g. hip/thigh).
Most of what you are saying is making sense to me, and sounds a lot more promising the my osteopath's "do some sit-ups", but some of it is not physical possible for me, and some requires such willpower (even when not clenching totally) that I can't maintain it.
At Monday, September 14, 2009 8:42:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
For Sam, you say you must tighten yet you wrote a comment to Quick Relaxing Hip Stretch that you still hurt and can't move to healthy position. How tense do you want your muscles and body to feel while sitting, standing, writing, sweeping the floor? Do you tighten your neck to speak? Tighten muscles you are moving to stretch? Up to you. The way to move to neutral spine is not to tighten against "overly tight muscles (e.g. hip/thigh) but to stretch the muscles and retrain habits so you do not battle yourself, cause pain, and dysfunctional movement. The movement in question is just enough to stand up. It should not require a feeling of tight tense muscles. I have had several patients who claim they must tighten. They all hurt. They were health professionals who had learned in their kinesiology classes that they must tighten to move at all. They had much dysfunctional movement - tight almost jerky movement, not fluid. The same exercise science classes also used to teach that to walk at all, you needed to be falling forward. A generation of runners were taught and required to run leaning forward, not more upright as today.
Use your time and willpower to change an underlying pattern of forcing movement which makes you tight and hurting. Stretch so that the area is not so tight that you have to tighten or force. Make more comfortable healthy movement possible instead.
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To Everyone, Free country, go ahead, tighten, clench, force, cramp, strain, tighten some more. Don't request more free replies why you hurt.
At Tuesday, March 23, 2010 9:43:00 PM,
Sage said…
I've been trying this method out lately, but i don't understand what you mean by tuck.
Whenever i straighten my spine, i have to clench my hips and thighs almost to the point where i can't walk properly to get it straight enough to stand up.
What am i doing wrong?
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