Being a chiropractor in Arlington Heights for over a decade, I have seen several patients dealing with low back pain or injuries caused by improper exercise techniques. We often find that common exercises like crunches and sit-ups are responsible for these discomforts.
In the following blog post, we will explain why these exercises might be doing more harm than good and share better alternatives. The exercises that we are going to suggest are much more spine-sparing and more similar to the movements we do standing and performing daily tasks.
Why Arlington Heights Residents Should Care?
Although Arlington Heights isn’t a big city, we still have a busy lifestyle here. Besides, we have an abundance of recreational places to enjoy in our leisure time. Whether you’re playing with your kids at North School Park, enjoying a game of pickleball at Recreation Park, or tackling a home improvement project, your core plays a crucial role in keeping you strong and stable.
I have had many patients in my office for low back pain that will improve greatly with treatment, but will linger as “low back soreness” at times. When I see this, I usually have a conversation with the patient about the details of their workout routines. This conversation often leads me to discover that the reason the soreness has remained is because of certain crunch-based exercises they are doing and putting undue stress on their lower backs. Upon elimination of these exercises and/or replacing those types of exercises with the ones we suggest, the patients all improve to 100% within a few days.
I also treat a number of local high school athletes who have chiseled 6-packs and do hundreds of crunches per week. Despite this, they can’t hold a side plank for more than 10-15 seconds without shaking or dropping below parallel because they do not have proper lateral chain stability.
In light of these experiences, I feel it necessary to inform my fellow locals (and any other readers) about the harms of traditional core exercises and suggest some good alternatives.
Data tells us that Arlington Heights is much healthier than the rest of Cook County. We believe that proper health advice will only improve the health of our community.
Scientific Research About Core Exercises and Why Six-Pack Obsession Is Bad
Much research has been performed on the subject of spine-loading vs. spine-sparing types of “core” exercise. Perhaps the foremost expert on the subject is Stuart McGill, a doctor of chiropractic and professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He often says, “Show me a 6-pack, and I’ll show you dysfunction”.
Now, it must be understood that there is no penalty for having well-toned abdominal muscles. What he means is that many people “go for” the six-pack as the end game, forgetting about the significant roles of the diaphragm, transverse abdominis, and oblique abdominal muscles. Individuals who are trying to get a 6-pack often spend much of their abdominal routine doing “crunch-type” exercises. It is these exercises that put a larger amount of strain on the lumbar spine, particularly on the discs, not to mention the lumbar facet joints.
Dr. McGill talks often about how the purpose of the hip and leg muscles is to promote movement in various ranges of motion, and how the muscles of the spine (including the abdominal and low back muscle groups) are designed to resist movement. It is no wonder that issues may arise when we try to use these muscles to create spinal movement repeatedly.
Dr. McGill’s research projects on the lumbar spine and lumbar discs have used lumbar spine samples from human cadavers, which were compressed by a machine and repeatedly flexed. A counter on each machine kept track of how many compressions/flexion combined movements were required to eventually herniate disc tissue that had begun as healthy. While living tissue can heal, scar, and/or regenerate over time, it was also observed that there is only a finite amount of compression and flexion movements an otherwise healthy spine can withstand before developing herniated discs.
Some of McGill’s other studies have had barometric pressure-sensing needles placed into the nucleus pulposus of a disc (see picture), and simulating the type of movement that would occur during a side plank, crunch, side-crunch, sit-up, supine toe-touches, leg raise, and V-up.
It was seen that upwards of 3000-4500 Newtons of pressure were exerted on the tissues during exercises like sit-ups, crunches, supine toe-touches, and V-ups. On the other hand, plank-type exercises were seen to have a much lower force.
The Exercises You Should Be Doing Instead
So, without going into too much more detail, it is safe to say that eliminating repeated crunch-type abdominal exercises from your routine will likely decrease your lower back discomfort and decrease damage to the tissues of your lumbar spine. I’m not telling everyone out there that they should never do a crunch or V-up ever again, but I am saying that an overuse of crunch-based exercises and an underutilization of plank and side-plank-based exercises will potentially lead to injuries and less optimal function.
I often have my patients with sore lower backs replace crunches and V-ups from their workout routine with plank-like exercises. This usually results in their lower back soreness disappearing and them feeling more optimal. So, I speak based on my practical experience and not just theories.
Below is an example of a good progression of side-plank exercises, and other abdominal exercise types that are safer for the low back, and still contribute to toned abdominals. When you get into the more advanced-type side-planks, with movement of one leg and stabilization through another, your body is working in a similar fashion to how it does when upright, especially when compared to a sit-up or V-up.
Easy
- Side and Front Plank from Knees
- Dead Bugs (Triple Flexion Abdominal Exercise)
- Front Plant from Knees with Elbows on Swiss Ball
Medium
- Side and front planks from the feet
- Front planks on toes with elbows on the Swiss ball
- Front planks on knees with elbows on Swiss ball—moving forward and backwards
- McGill’s Supine Trunk Raise
- Downward chops with cables
- Trunk rotations (neutral lumbar spine) with weight
Hard
- Side planks with top leg raised—can move top leg back and forth at hip to make it even harder (be careful!)
- Front planks with alternating lifting of each leg
- Front planks on toes with elbows on swiss ball—moving forward and backwards, or “stirring the pot” (elbows under shoulders in front plank moving in elbows in circular motion)
- Trunk rotations (neutral lumbar spine) on Bosu ball
Obviously, these are just a few examples, and not an exhaustive list of exercises to use instead of crunch-type exercises. You can be creative and make your own challenges and nuances for each different exercise (i.e., opposite arm/leg movements in the “Dead bug” exercise, or arm movements against resistance with side planks).
So be safe, exercise smarter, build a better-functioning low back, and have fun! If you happen to live in Arlington Heights, feel free to book an appointment to address any issues you may have been experiencing due to improper workout routines. We will be sure to provide you with an exceptional level of chiropractic care and advice.