Studies involving electromyography testing — which looks at muscle activation patterns — shows that the hip flexors, not your abs, are doing most of the work. In time, these muscular imbalances lead to postural problems, which can make you look like the hunchback of Notre Dame and create a host of impingement-related pain issues in your neck, shoulders, and lower back.
Ah… the classic ab exercise that started it all. And still to this day is heralded as the exercise for ab training. Yes, it strengthens your abs — but only ONE muscle group — your rectus abdominis that 8-pack muscle.
Funny thing is this exercise tends to tire the muscles on the front of your neck more than your abs. Make no mistake, this is one of the very worst ab exercises, if not the worst ab exercise of all. Same motion but with the legs moving, instead of your torso. Again, this is all hip flexors, with your abs playing a secondary role. This is the ultimate exercise for potentially ripping your hip flexors from your their attachment points on your upper leg. Again, do this exercise and your hip flexors will be much more sore than your abs.
The steeper the incline, the more you work against gravity and the greater the load imposed on your lower back. Why do so many people rely on it? And remember, you cannot spot reduce, only spot strengthen. But what is this exercise even strengthening? In my late teens, my mom bought this off an infomercial and I relied on it like a baby does a blankie.
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I would do at least 30 minutes of ab roller crunches every day. Funny thing is that I was able to do those 30 minutes, almost non-stop. Not sure why my coaches thought this was a good exercise or that it had anything to do with being a better goalie. This is easily one of the most intense exercises on your HIPS — not your abs — which again leaves your hip flexors feeling tighter, while pulling on your lower back.
After all, they are one of the leaders in physical training that actually works and backed by years of science and rigorous testing behind closed doors.
Botox for Back Pain
And people who have become addicted to their prescribed pain medicines often switch to heroin, which is cheaper and more readily available. For many, the pain is real, chronic, disabling, and they need help managing it. Nor does it suggest that opiate medicines have no benefits at all. But what it should do is give all of us pause. Instead, treatments should focus on getting back pain sufferers active again and learning to manage, not cure, the pain.
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A range of therapies including exercise, education about how to care for your back, yoga, and mind-body techniques have been shown to help control back pain. So what do I tell my patients? Your body has adjusted to these medicines and stopping them abruptly is a bad idea. With help, people on opiate pain relievers can try to wean themselves off these medicines gradually and replace them with other treatments.
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This article can really help one to understand how opiates do not necessarily benefit someone. The growing issue of people becoming addicted to opiates is very concerning. Many people can easily become addicted to them after they are prescribed by a doctor. Harbor Village Detox is an addiction treatment facility that can help someone if they do have an addiction.
Hopefully, with the correct treatment, someone suffering from an addiction can successfully overcome it. I have suffered from a rare form of back pain which is in my upper thoracic and neck. My brother had surgery for his neck which left him in more pain that he started.
I have a familial tendency to herniate discs. My only means of surviving these last 20 years has been via immediate release oxycodone. I have had acclimation issues like anyone else and my dosage is high enough that we are looking for ER meds to help. So far, the hunt for an ER med has meant a long siege of horrible suffering for me.
With the pain meds I can work and do work. Anyone who thinks replacing opioids with mindfulness, yoga, meditation etc can be done , has no idea how that makes a chronic pain sufferer feel.
Reason #2: The Worst Ab Exercises Ruin Your Back, Hips, and Posture
Why should we have to live a life with severe pain because a minority of pain sufferers do the wrong thing with these drugs. Even with sometimes you still have severe pain. Unfortunately I follow the rules set forth in my drug contracts with the Dr and do everything by the book unlike the ones who do not and make life hell for the rest of us. Thanks for sharing this valuable information …!! It helps a lot …. This post become the best resource for patients who are suffering from back pain.
Will share with patients and other providers. We have begun to work other members of the patient centered medical home to offer holistic approaches to addressing pain, particularly LBP. It seems to me that an aggressive regimen of opioids might be best for her. Many doctors avoid using strong opiates in the very elderly.
Steven, as a pain management physician, I take exception to your characterization of the introduction of opiates into medicine. It can be found in the felony conviction of Purdue in It can be found in the use of strippers by Insys to market subsys to physicians. Using Edward Bernays and his marketing schemes to sell drugs. It goes on and on. Chris, Thanks for you comment. There were many motivations that led to this change in practice.
The day I met him back in I was carried to hospital as suddenly I was paralyzed! He tried manipulation under sedation- made it worse! Followed by 3 months of pelvic traction with no improvement- I could not stand let alone walk. My 4th month in hospital spinal fusion was performed.
At that point I was on Demerol then switched to Tylenol 3 with Codeine. I was a newlywed!