3 Ways to Avoid Back Pain During Abs Exercises

Back pain, in most cases, can be a nuisance. A great percentage of people suffer from back pain

For some, it has become the norm, a normal part of daily life.

What most people do not realize is that it does not have to be this way – especially during abs exercises.

It’s possible that a doctor may have even prescribed a couple of exercises to help relieve your back pain but in the process of doing these exercises, you realize that the pain you had is increasing instead of reducing.

This makes you wonder what you are doing wrong!

It is quite common to experience back pain when exercising. This is why I wanted to share 3 ways to avoid back pain during abs exercises.

1. Listen to Your Body

We all want to have great abs to show off during summer such that we tend to ignore what our body is telling us when doing our abs exercises.

Your body will always communicate with you when there is something that seems off at any given time. Abs are great but when you start to feel any sort of pain when exercising, it’s best to stop and listen to your body.

It is okay to stop.

Many of us feel that if we start an exercise routine, it is not okay to stop midway.

Let me re-assure you that there’s no shame in stopping if you need to. If the exercise routine is making your back hurt more, you are allowed to stop the exercise routine.

It could be that the particular routine you are attempting is too demanding for your back. If this is the case, you can simply do fewer reps, or find a new routine that does not bother your back as much.

2. Do Low-Impact Abs Exercises

If you are a beginner, it is best you start out with low-intensity abs exercises before going on to more complex exercise sets. This is because, as a beginner, it is not advisable to start your fitness journey with excessively complex routines. Doing so will only put more strain on you and your back.

Great low impact abs exercises are any of the many variations of planks.

• Side planks
• Full planks
• Half planks
• Planks with leg raises etc

These exercises also have the side benefit of sucking in your waist for a smaller, tighter look!

Also, if you have been exercising for a while and the more advanced ab exercises suddenly start to cause back pain, you can go back and start slow. There’s no shame in that!

Take your time, go slow, and figure out which exercise exactly is making you have the back pain.

3. Is that the way that exercise should be done?

Many abs exercises require that the lower back remains on the floor.

Check to make sure that you are meeting this requirement.

Also, many ab exercises require very good control of the abs muscles and require you to keep tension in your abs.

Check to make sure you are doing this as well.

Ensuring that you are using good form is a great way to protect your back during abs exercises.

This is one of the reasons I love making workout videos for you guys – so you can actually see the exercises being done and also receive real time instruction as you follow along. 

These three steps should help you keep back pains at bay.

If you are still experiencing back pains, I recommend talking to your doctor or Physical Therapist again. They will be able to suggest more stretches and low impact routines that can help you.