In my family, we got weak backs.


Whenever i do crunches, my back hurts.

I asked a trainer, he corrected how i do sit ups and crunches.


There was improvement, but my back burns before my abs.


Is this normal? Will it go away?

If it doesn't, are there alrternatives to getting strong abs?

flutter kicks, bicycle kicks, leg lifts

I know bycycle and leg lifts,

but what are flutter kicks?

reverse hyper to strengthen the lower back

I know bycycle and leg lifts,

but what are flutter kicks?


similar to leg lifts, but fluttering your legs

oh.

Thanks!

To elaborate on Kidspatula, a flutter kick is as follows:

- Hands under your rear, lying on your back
- Hold legs 6 inches off the ground
- While keeping one leg at that level, raise the other (starting position)
- Alternate position of your legs rapidly, resulting in a "fluttering" motion. Kinda
like swimming, but wider
- At the midpoint both legs will be parallel.

For ease in counting, go 1-2-3-1, 1-2-3-2...(each count is one "kick")

check this out for pics if that sounds confusing:
http://www.trainforstrength.com/ex-7.shtml

Once again...thank ya!

Deadlifts and GHR's to strengthen the lower back. You're experiencing a strength imbalance.

What about home machines?

Why do you need a home machine for ab work/lower back training...think: simple = better on this one.

Your iliopsoas and hamstrings are too tight. Do some research and learn to stretch them.

How many do you actually do in a sitting? And you can keep your back flat on the floor while you do them if you need to...

Well i just recently got back into training....

So i do only about 50 or so sit ups. Theni pause and do pushups or something then i do leg raises.
The second time around is when my back is most bitchy.


Yesterday, instead of doing sit ups and then leg raises i expanded my workout. So i did cycling and flutter kick things.

It helped though! I essentially got more out of it.

I really think we need to know more about your condition before we make assumptions.

Flutter kicks, leg raises, etc are not an ab exercise. Granted the rectus abdominis is contracting isometrically whilst you do these, but then they do in many exercises. The dynamic movers are the hip flexor muscles.

How did the trainer tell you to do the crunches to protect your back? Did s/he tell you to keep a sligth bend in your knees to diminish hip flexor activity?

There are better ab exercises than situps and curcnes anyway. If you have access to a cable machine you can work your abs standing up. Why do we need to be supine to work this area?

if you do a lot of situps as your main form of ab training then, as Tom says,you probably do have tight hip flexors.

Have you ever tried crunches using a "swiss ball" (those big inflatable rubber balls)? I've found that I can go longer doing those than just doing normal sit-ups. You can't do them very quickly, though, as you need to be careful to maintain your balance. You can do it with your toes touching the wall to help you there.