Day 123- Abdominal Curls with Slomo Ball behind Shoulder Blades

This exercise is intended to increase the mobility and flexibility of the thoracic spine and ribcage for increased lung capacity and improved posture.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a soft ball.  Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet planted into the ground.  The soft ball should be under your ribcage right between your shoulder blades and your hands should be clasped behind your head for support.  Inhale as you extend your spine over the ball allowing your head neck and shoulders to open towards the floor.  Then exhale as you narrow the ribcage and begin to use the upper abs to bring the thoracic spine into flexion.  Repeat 8-10 times.

Things to think about

If you have a diagnosis of Osteoporosis you want to be sure to move between spine extension and neutral in this exercise.  This means that your head will never come higher than your neck and shoulders.  Extension done safely is excellent for osteoporosis, but flexion increases the incidence of possible fractures.

 This is also not an exercise for the low back, so be sure that the low back is relatively still as the thoracic spine continues to move.  This will help distribute movement across the whole spine so that the low spine is not overworking.

This exercise is more about the breath than the abdominals (Are you sick of hearing this yet).  The abdominals play a role, but abdominal work without breath can lead to a compressed dysfunctional lumbar spine.

Day 122- Abdominal Curls Pulses

This exercise is intended to increase the strength in thoracic flexion.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet planted in the floor.  Your hands should be clasped behind your head to offer support.  To begin the movement, inhale into the back of your ribs and then exhale as you press the ribcage into the ground to lift your head neck and shoulders. Then continue the exhale as you lift the head neck and shoulders slightly higher and then release just a bit and then repeat in a quick repetitive motion until you are positive every ounce of air has left your lungs.  Then inhale into the back of your ribs to release the head, neck and shoulders to the ground.  Repeat 5-6 times.

Things to think about

 As with the abdominal curls this is an exercise that is more complicated than one might think just looking at it.  Once again if you have a diagnosis of Osteoporosis of the spine this is not the exercise for you because the risk of vertebral fracture is increased when the spine is in flexion.

As you are doing these pulses be sure that you are continuing to exhale and that you inhale to return to the ground.  This will guarantee that the abdominals are in the most efficient place to work.

Also be aware that you are not transferring between flexion and extension of the spine, you are moving between flexion and more flexion during the pulses.  The abdominals are engage the entire time that your body is pulsing.

Day 121- Abdominal Curls

This exercise is intended to strengthen the abdominal wall, and if done correctly can also create length in the thoracic and low spine.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet planted in the floor. Your hands should be clasped together behind your head. Inhale into the back of your ribs and exhale as you press your ribcage into the ground and lift your head neck and shoulders.  Inhale at the top and exhale as you release your head neck and shoulders to the ground vertebra by vertebra. Repeat 8-10 times.

Things to think about

This seemingly simple exercise is filled with many variables.  I always tell people that if you can do more than ten of these (aka I just did three hundred crunches…You’ve heard this I know you have) that you’re not doing it right.  This exercise takes a great amount of mindfulness and awareness of the moving body to get the most benefit. 

Also if you have a diagnosis of Osteoporosis, this is not the abdominal exercise for you.  Flexion of the spine increases the chance of vertebral fracture.  In this case the toe taps in all of its various form would be a better abdominal strengthening exercise because they are an excellent source of abdominal work that leaves the spine safe and even strengthens it.

Now the most important thing about the abdominal curl is the breath.  The inhale into the back of the ribs lengthens and opens tissue in the spine so that the spine is able to bend easily.  It is also important to be aware of the exhale and that it is a complete exhale.  As the air is leaving your lungs the diaphragm is moving into the ribcage and lengthening the Psoas.  With this length you body will be in the ideal place to flex the spine.

Neck placement is also something to be aware of.  As you are doing this exercise your want there to be a slight nod to your head.  Your focus should be at your navel not at the ceiling

Day 120- SIngle Straight Leg Lower on Slomo Ball

This exercise is intended to add challenge to the leg lower, while giving support to the sacrum

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a soft ball.  Start by lying on your back with the soft ball under your pelvis.  One leg should be in a tabletop position and one leg should be straight with the heel reaching towards the ceiling.  Inhale as you point your toe and exhale as you lower your leg towards the floor.  Then inhale as you float the leg up to the ceiling. Repeat 5 times on each side.

Things to think about

Wobbly pelvises can bring strain to low backs and sacro-illiac joints.  Use your breath to make sure that your pelvic floor and lower abdominals are working.

Feel the length in your hip flexor as you lower the leg down.

Day 119- Toe Taps from Table Top with a Diagonal on Slomo Ball

This exercise is intended to increase the difficulty of this oblique abdominal exercise by adding proprioceptive challenge.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a soft ball.  Start by lying on your back with the soft ball underneath your pelvis.  Your legs should be in a tabletop position.  Inhale as you point your legs to the side and then exhale as you lower your toes to the floor and bring them back.  Inhale as you point the toes to the other side and then exhale as you tap our toes on the ground.  Repeat alternating sides 8-10 times.

Things to think about:

Remember with these oblique variations that you are rotating the thighs in the hip sockets while maintaining stillness in the pelvis.  Your pelvis may want to roll to one side or the waist may shorten because your hip hikes towards the ribcage.  Be sure to use your exhale to engage your pelvis floor and lower abdominals.  Sometimes it helps to think of the abdomen pulling away from the leg as it lowers.

Day 118- Toe Taps from Table Top Double Leg on Slomo Ball

This exercise adds proprioceptive challenges to the double leg toe taps by placing the pelvis on an unstable base

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a soft ball.  Start by lying on your back with the soft ball underneath your pelvis.  Your legs should be in a tabletop position.  Inhale into the back of the ribs to prepare and then exhale as you squeeze your inner thighs together and tap both toes on the ground and then bring them back up to tabletop position.  Inhale in between movement and then exhale as you repeat.  Continue for 6-8 repetitions

Things to think about

The wobbly ball will make this exercise quite challenging for the lower abdominals.  Be sure that you are exhaling completely and maintaining awareness of your pelvic floor and lower abdominals

Day 117- Toe Taps from Table Top single leg on Slomo Ball

This exercise is intended to add proprioceptive challenge to the Single Leg Toe Taps.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a soft ball.  Start by lying on your back with the soft ball underneath your pelvis.  Your legs will be in a tabletop position.  Inhale to prepare and exhale as you lower one leg to tap the toe on the ground and return it to a tabletop position, then inhale in between and exhale again as you lower the other leg and bring it back up.  Repeat 5-10 times alternating sides.

Things to think about

The soft ball may make the pelvis a little wobbly, so to keep it stabile will require additional abdominal strength.

Try and breathe into the back of your ribs during the exercise.  The space underneath the back that is created by the ball allows for more room in the ribcage, so if you focus the breath there you might be able to get some release

Day 116- Single Straight Leg Lower

This exercise is intended to challenge the stability of the pelvis by lengthening the lever arm of the moving leg.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your back in a tabletop position.  Inhale as you straighten one leg for the ceiling and exhale as you lower that long leg towards the floor.  Just before it touches the floor flex your foot and inhale as you lift the leg again.  Repeat 5 times on each side.

Things to think about

It is very challenging to do this exercise correctly.  Often when first learning this exercise a person recruits the quadriceps and hip flexors so much that they pull the pelvis into an anterior tilt causing extension in the low back, or distress at the sacro-iliac join.  To prevent this it sometimes helps to imagine that the sacrum is glued to the floor.  It also helps to bend the knee slightly to create ease in the front of the hips.  As always you are imagining the ease in the hip socket as you are moving the bones of the leg.