Slight abdominal muscles make the exercise dangerous
The main problem with the performance of the body rises is the weak rectus abdominal muscles. To make it easier to understand the reason, we divide the exercise into two phases:
- twisting, when you tear off the upper part of the body from the floor, and the loin remains pressed to the floor;
- lifting the body, when you tear the waist off the floor and go to a sitting position.
In the first phase, the contraction of the rectus muscle pulls you forward.
When the lower part of the spine breaks from the floor, the muscles of the hip flexor are included in the work: iliopsoas muscles, the rectus muscle of the thigh (one of the quadriceps heads), the sartorius muscles and the tensors of the wide fascia of the thigh. Due to them, the body bends in the hip joint, and you go to a sitting position.
The strong muscles of the press tighten the pelvis in the phase of the hull lifting so that the load from the lumbar spine is removed and the exercise becomes safe.
What happens if the muscles of the press are weak? After the twisting phase, you can not hold the body at the expense of the rectus abdominis muscles and try to climb with the help of the hip flexor muscles. The pelvis moves back, the waist flexes, and compression of the vertebrae is created. The ilio-lumbar muscle pulls the vertebrae forward, disrupting the neutral position of the spine, which adversely affects his health.
In reality, the right and wrong techniques look like this:
If you do not follow several approaches correctly, you may feel pain in the lumbar spine. And if you already have problems with your back, then you will only aggravate the situation.
How to fix it
Replace the lifts by twisting or striking
Instead of lifting the hull, make twists without lifting the loin from the floor. This will protect the spine from injury and will strengthen the rectus abdominal muscles.
However, there is a danger in twisting. This time we are talking about tension in the cervical spine. Some newcomers put their necks forward. Multiple repetitions of this exercise plus working at a computer with constant tension in the cervical department – and training can turn into pain. But there is a way out.
When doing twists, try to keep your neck relaxed, do not pull your chin to your chest.
Also, you can replace the body lifts on the bar or pulling the knees to the chest in the vis on the bar.
Perform lifting of the body slowly
If you strongly slow down the repetition, you simply will not be able to stretch yourself at the expense of the muscles of the hip flexors. In addition, slow body lifts are an excellent option for working out the press. So he tenses much more than during fast or abrupt movements.
There is an interesting variation of this exercise – slow twisting with hands over your head and straight legs. Lay down on your back, straighten your legs, stretch your arms above your head and start twisting, lifting the body. The task is to perform the exercise as slowly as possible. After straightening start to fall too very slowly and if possible stay at the point where your muscles feel the most tension.
That’s all. Do the exercises correctly, and you will protect yourself from injuries in the gym and during home training.
