core exercises..what do you do?

[herniated]

Hi all!
As most of you know from my name, I have back problems and I am sick of it!! My PT advised me to strengthen my core muscles more. BTW over the past couple of years my core/abdominals have been compromised. I had a hernia for years and had it repaired this past December. So, I haven't worked out my abs hard for a long time. She (pt) said my joints are very flexible and that is contributing to my back going 'out'.

Now.. I am a personal trainer but I am interested in learning new ab/core exercises. She has me doing mostly static exercises for now like the 'plank'. The advanced and beginner positions. And not doing a crunch but raising the upper body(shoulders) off the floor and holding it. I also have scar tissue by the hernia repair that she is working on. Thank God.

So, what do you guys do? BTW... I am back on the ice, finally.

[coskater64]

I do reformer pilates, not mat pilates, 2-3 x a week, I have a reformer in my basement and a cadillac. I also do pointe work and ballet 2x a week, between these two things I stabilize my core pretty well. I use hinged boots which take noticeable strength in the ankles and tremendous core strength when landing jumps with speed and flow. You just need to be consistent, find a good video and if at all possible take a class at a reputable pilates studio. Mat will work as well as reformer but is not as fun. IMHO


:halo::halo:

[patatty]

Hi Herniated! I'm so glad you are back on the ice! I do the abdominal exercises from the NYC ballet workout. They include regular crunches, as well as oblique crunches, plus some other stuff where you do a kind of round crunch where your shoulders move in a circle, plus some other stuff where you move your legs in different ways while your shoulders are off the ground. I try to do them every night, but it usually ends up being about 4x a week. It has really helped my core strength a lot, and it only takes about 10-15 minutes. I also tried doing some sit-ups with an exercise ball where you sit on the ball and go up and down, but those are really tough, and I'm kind of lazy, especially at night when I'm really tired. I hope to see you and your new program at the rink soon!

[herniated]

Hey patatty, hope to see you on the ice soon too!!! I was doing the crunches on the stability ball before my recent back incident. I'd like to try the NYC ballet stuff and reformer coskater talked about. My gym recently hired some one who is certified, maybe I'll try that when I get a bit stronger.

Like I said before, I'm back on the ice but spinning and jumping cause pain right now. So, ice dance it is for awhile more.

[Query]

I definitely don't know enough to help a personal trainer strengthen core muscles. Bet you already have stronger abs than 99% of us, and you know all about not creating unbalanced muscle strength front-to-back, or side-to-side (an issue for people who jump and spin rotating in only one direction, as do most freestyle and pairs skaters, which your Physical Therapist might not know about) which can also create joint pains and problems, by pulling it out of position.

And since you are a personal trainer, you probably already know this: Back pains are frequently caused by high heels, like those in your skates, because they force you to bend backwards (more precisely, the upper and lower spine bend forwards less, the middle spine bends backwards less). Be careful if you decide to try ballet. Ballet dancers frequently have back pains too because they too are taught to create a straight erect spine position. Figure skaters and ballet dancers are told it is bad form to bend forwards, but people are designed to, a little. The books say you can also create spinal pains and problems if you jump wrong, or if you don't align your body weight properly along skeletal support lines.

I fixed some back pains by effectively reducing the height of my skate heels, from the inside. Specifically, I replaced by insoles by some I made myself, by taking some thin ones (or you could cut some out of thin felt) and adding tape under the front part. An alternative would be to shave or sand the heels down a bit on the outside. Either way, you may have to reshape the front and back of your boots a bit so everything still fits. (On the other hand, too low a heel, combined with the sometimes need in figure skating to push the heel down, may also cause physical problems and pain, though that may be more of a problem for those of us who aren't flexible.)

If you like to read, the dance people have a bunch of textbooks on injuries caused by dance, e.g.,

Blandine Calais-Germain, Anatomy of Movement, 1993.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0939616173/ref=pd_null_recs_b//002-5516017-7827215?v=glance&s=books

Blandine Calais-Germain, Anatomy of Movement: Exercises (Revised Edition, 2008)

http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Movement-Exercises-Blandine-Calais-Germain/dp/0939616580/ref=pd_sim_b_2/104-6677086-4895105

Daniel D. Arnheim, Dance Injuries, Second edition, 1991

http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Injuries-Their-Prevention-Horizons/dp/087127146X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222819036&sr=1-3

[by the same Arnheim who wrote the classic text for certified physical trainers]

This book has exercises too

Marilyn Moffat and Steve Vickery, The American Physical Therapy Book of Body Maintenance and Repair, 1991

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805055711/qid=1106261244/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0952078-1458239?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

I'm not expert enough to evaluate those books, or any similar ones. I suspect there are more modern textbooks on the subject. I'm just parroting what is in the books. The first two books were referenced in a course I took on "Dance Kinesiology".

[LAdili99]

Hey patatty, hope to see you on the ice soon too!!! I was doing the crunches on the stability ball before my recent back incident. I'd like to try the NYC ballet stuff and reformer coskater talked about. My gym recently hired some one who is certified, maybe I'll try that when I get a bit stronger.

Like I said before, I'm back on the ice but spinning and jumping cause pain right now. So, ice dance it is for awhile more.

Take heart. Yuna Kim of S Korea has herniated discs too. But it did not stop her from reaping international competition medals. I know she is stll very young but the idea is that you can work around the problem. proper training I guess and some acupuncture I suppose. Read up on such stuff, you mind find something helpful.

[jazzpants]

Oh, dear! Yes, I think pilates would be a great start for someone who has weak core muscles. Since you have a herniated disc, I do advise you get a certified personal trainer who has years of experience to make sure you do your regular exercises right (like crunches and stuff.)

I also do lots of combination arm curls/raises and leg squat exercises on a BOSU too and that requires a lot of core muscle to do right. You can also do walking squats too if you don't have a BOSU on hand too.

Try to stay away from high impact exercises like jogging. Go for the elliptical trainer instead!

[Skittl1321]

My vote would be for Pilates, however, take a class- don't just do a video at first. I did a video for years with no effect at all, turns out, I was doing it wrong- a year of classes and now i'm comfortable on my own (though- I haven't done it in awhile). There are so many teeny things that make a huge difference in which muscle you are working that I wouldn't do it without some instruction. Though, if you are a personal trainer, you would probably pick up the ideas quicker.

I also really like reformer work, but our Pilates instructor wouldn't let us do reformer work without a mat class.

A good Pilates instructor will know how to modify for your injuries. Due to my neck injury, I did a lot of exercises without lifting my head- and other things had to be changed to so all the alignments were correct, it wasn't just a matter of not lifting my head...

Though I definetly had improvement in my core, the most noticeable difference for me in Pilates was the strength of my back. You could see the muscles toning. Since it's not a cardio workout, even though my core was strengthened, the fat hid all the nice muscle development :)

[stacyf419]

Regarding the pilates mat work:
I too was advised to strengthen my core muscles (I have a herniated disk and all kinds of accompanying spasms and pain). When I tried a Pilates mat video, the rocking motion of some of the exercises felt odd and slightly painful to me, so I stopped right away.
Has this happened to anyone else with a back problem doing pilates? Also, it seemed as though many of the exercises involved this 'rocking' motion on a curved back. I figured that to eliminate those, I would only be doing half the video! Maybe I got the wrong impression...

[Mrs Redboots]

I do various Pilates-type exercises, which seem to help, especially when my back is sore - I have a book with various back stretches. And the usual abs-strengthening work.

I haven't done much of them this month, but still appear to have lost an inch off my waist! And the trousers I bought are definitely too loose now, almost to the point of being uncomfortable (they do not have belt loops); all the same, I haven't lost any weight :cry: :cry:

[GordonSk8erBoi]

Regarding the pilates mat work:
I too was advised to strengthen my core muscles (I have a herniated disk and all kinds of accompanying spasms and pain). When I tried a Pilates mat video, the rocking motion of some of the exercises felt odd and slightly painful to me, so I stopped right away.
Has this happened to anyone else with a back problem doing pilates? Also, it seemed as though many of the exercises involved this 'rocking' motion on a curved back. I figured that to eliminate those, I would only be doing half the video! Maybe I got the wrong impression...

Rolling like a ball, and seal, and the shell stretch, and other stuff like that definitely require you to round your back. Is it the rounding back that bothers you or the rocking motion itself? In either case your best bet is to take a class and talk to the instructor, I would think. It can feel a bit odd but shouldn't be painful.

[stacyf419]

Thanks Gordon - it's not the rounding of the back so much as the pressure along my spine when I roll.
I will check it out with a certified instructor before trying it again.

[AnnM]

I take pilates classes on the reformer, not mat. Sometimes we do BOSU work as well.

[sk8lady]

I do belly dance. A lot of the important moves involve core strength and they also stress being able to "layer"--do one thing with part of your body while doing something completely different with another part--sometimes it's like advanced patting your head while rubbing your tummy!

[Query]

Since spinning and jumping are the issue, have you done the obvious - tried spinning and jumping in the opposite direction? If it hurts more in one direction doing the same things, maybe you have done what so many freestyle skaters do - developed the body assymetrically, in which case practicing spins and jumps in the opposite direction may help.

[doubletoe]

I do belly dance. A lot of the important moves involve core strength and they also stress being able to "layer"--do one thing with part of your body while doing something completely different with another part--sometimes it's like advanced patting your head while rubbing your tummy!

Oh, wow, that sounds SO much more fun than sit-ups!!

[black]

Try laughing... no seriously, a good comedy will make your sides hurt :lol: :lol:

[herniated]

I learned some more new exercises today. They are hard to explain because they are on the stability ball. My PT showed them to me. Instead of the traditional crunch you hold the upward postion for 30 secs. Static exercises.

I too think the belly dancing would be fun too. But alas, the time to do it.

And I've heard of Yu na Kim's herniated discs. I herniated mine when I was in my twenties and within 6weeks was back to my old self again. Youth was on my side. Now in my 40's it takes MUCH longer to recover. BTW, when I chose my name I had had a herniated disc. Now the disc has reabsorbed and I have MANY degenerating discs. Very common as we age.

And, yes I have imbalances as many skaters do. Before the recent injury I was improving my weak side but then... well you all know what happened. Right now though I don't really want to jump and spin in the opposite direction but it's a good thought!!

Today, I was able to do some of my jumps and still only an upright spin and scratch spin. Better than nothin' !

[sk8lady]

Oh, wow, that sounds SO much more fun than sit-ups!!

My belly dance teacher tells me that undulations (very squirmy looking!) are sit-ups standing up. Seems to have done a lot for my stomach muscles!:D