Resolve Back Pain While Finally Flattening Your Tummy!
Are you tired of having a flabby gut or an aching back?
Want to figure out how to double the benefit of your abdominal workouts?
In this article I’m going to show you how to flip the power switch to your abs on so you can finally get rid of back pain and flatten your tummy. Yee-haw! 😁
We have over 600 muscles in our body’s that require a series of complex communications between our brain, nervous system, and muscles everytime we move. Some movements require communication between two opposing sets of muscles. While one set of muscles are inhibited/relaxed, the other set is required to facilitate/tonify.
Sometimes proper signaling gets blocked between these sets of muscles. The result is chronic muscle weakness on one side of the body while its partner on the other side is chronically over tight and is not able to let go. This is often seen in the person with a big gut sticking out in front as a result of weak abdominals. This posture can be accompanied by a slight backward pull showing overly tight back muscles. When this imbalance exists as a result of faulty signaling, no amount of exercise alone will remedy the problem. In fact, attempting to strengthen imbalanced muscles often exacerbates the problem forcing the body to recruit other inefficient muscles to do the job.
In order to benefit from abdominal exercise, proper signaling messages must get through. Signals can get blocked as a result of past injuries, overworked muscles, lack of movement, shallow breathing, reactive muscle patterns, dietary indiscretions, and even stress.
Let’s switch on the power to the abdominals using Specialized Kinesiology!
Work with the Neurolymphatic Reflexes
One quick way to address blocked signals is to massage the associated neurolymphatic reflexes before abdominal workouts. This is like turning on the power switch to the abs. When the body is allowed to function the way it was created to, the abs will respond to the strengthening exercises. By strengthening the body’s core, the back is relieved from bearing the load alone.
This may explain the frustration you feel of not being able to relax your client’s back without half killing yourself… No matter what you do, it only helps them for a little while. Next time they’re in, it’s the same old thing or even worse! 🤪
Most back conditions will benefit from strengthening the abdominals. The client can finally begin to heal once they have full access to their muscles. Now they can finally begin to benefit from strengthening exercises.
Gentle Abdominal Exercise
Begin by doing a modified sit-up with your feet held down flat and your knees bent. Your torso starts flat on the floor. The lumbar spine is flattened by contracting the abdominal muscles. The arms are folded across the chest.
With the lower spine flat against the floor, do a quarter curling sit-up (only lift part way) and hold this position for 3-5 seconds. Repeat several times until the abdominal muscles feel fatigued. At the point of fatigue, stop and firmly massage along the inside of both thighs from the knee to the groin for 15-30 seconds. These are the Neurolymphatic Reflexes associated with the abdominal muscles to switch the power on.
Continue doing sets of 3-5 reps, holding for approximately 3-5 seconds each time, and massaging the reflex points on the legs between each set. Make sure to keep breathing during the exercise. Notice the improvements in strength and celebrate!
As you get stronger, you can modify the exercise, increasing the number of reps and varying the angle that you hold. You can start in the upright position and gradually lean back a little further till you master that angle before moving to the next angle. Eventually, you may be able to hold certain positions for up to 60 seconds with consistent effort.
To Summarize…
- Learn to power on your abs before exercising
- Strengthen your core abdominal muscles to allow your back to relax
- Enjoy the benefits of a flat tummy and decreased back pain
- Be able to enjoy exercise and experience the benefits of a fit body.
Tip: One of my favorite ways to relax the back quickly is to perform the spindle cell technique bilaterally all along the paraspinals. Pinch vertically up and down each side of the spine several times.
Dr. John Thie, the author of Touch for Health, recommends that this exercise be done 2 times a day to strengthen abdominal muscles and to improve posture and remove pot bellies. Inspiration for this article was taken from one of my favorite teachers, Dr. Wayne Topping in his book, ‘Success Over Distress’.
Learn more about the Specialized Kinesiology by joining one of my upcoming workshops! View my workshop schedule here. You’ll even earn CE’s while you learn! It’s an incredible modality that helps you work from the inside out, correcting imbalances in the energy system first to help the body heal itself naturally.