Get Firm Abs Without Hurting Your Back

I bet that if you ask 100 people in the street what exercises they need to do in order to firm up their stomach and abs at least 90 people would say some combination of crunches and situps.

What if I told you that performing these exercises will damage your back in the long run? I bet those 90 people would think differently next time they goto workout their abs!

So what exercises are we talking about here? Mainly we are talking about situps and crunches. These exercises put undue pressure on the spine and slowly destabilizes the back which causes injury and a hunched look.

What Exercises Tone the Abs And Don’t Harm the Back?

Simply put; Leg Raises and Planks.

These should be the foundation of your ab workouts because being honest they are all you need.

Leg Raises

Leg raises can be performed either laying on the ground or hanging from a pull up bar. The main difference with these two exercises are the point of maximum resistance. With the laying leg raise the point of maximum resistance is the moment the legs lift off the ground while with the hanging leg raise the point of maximum resistance is when the legs are parallel to the ground.

When performing lying leg raises try to perform a quick reverse on the way back to starting position. This will help you hit the lower abs which will give you some nice looking lower abs.

Planks

Planks are generally considered to be the best ab exercises around. Best of all they don’t put any extra strain on your back so you can perform them knowing full well that you are not damaging your back.

Other Ab Exercises

I’ve briefly gone over the leg raise, the hanging leg raise and planks. Obviously there are more workouts out there that train the abs while not damaging the back. If you are looking to buy some equipment to help in your training then you might take a look at the Ab Wheel.

Or if you are looking for other exercises that do not train the abs directly but still give it a good workout you should check out this article: The 3 Best Ab Exercises that ARE NOT Direct Ab Exercises

Tags: ab exercises, ab training, ab wheel, ab workouts, back pain, firm abs, hanging leg raises, lower back exercises, lying leg raises, planks