Scoliosis and Abs

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hello… I’ve posted this in the beginners section but I’ve gotten no responses. I hate to be a pain… but I’d really like an answer, so I figured I’d post it here too, since it counts as building a better body.

Okay, I’m 18 years old, about 5’10 and 140 pounds. I know I’m skinny, and I’m working on it. I have no dreams of becoming a body builder, as I have a job, school (well summer classes are over), and just play basketball.

I have a problem, however. At 11 years old, I was told that I had scolisis, curved about 11-13 degrees, in my lower back. Back then, the pain was too much, I’d have back pain just by sitting down, or even lying down.

Now, all of the inactive-pain has went away. No longer do I get pain in my back from sitting at a computer chair for hours (rarely). The only time my spine hurts is when I’m bending over, standing up, bending over, standing up, like lifting boxes and whatnot, OR if I’m trying to work my ab muscles.

If I do situps, crunches, decline crunches, …my back hurts. I can’t work my abs because my back gets a great amount of pain and I’m forced to stop.

Zercher Squats and Plate loaded front squats come with a little bit of back pain, but I don’t feel like I’m working my abs at all with them. If I use too much weight, my back will hurt. If I don’t use enough weight, my abs won’t get worked. I guess it has something to do with the load being in front of my body… I can do back squats fine and dandy… deadlifts hurt some.

Yesterday I was doing decline tricep extensions with a barbell, and on the last 2-3 reps, I forced them… I had more ab burn at that time than I ever had doing crunches… blah.

So I’m very upset… I have a low amount of body fat, I’m cut, but I have no ab muscles, zero definition.

Are there any exercises out there that I can do that works my abs but are scoliosis-safe? I can’t deal with the back pain.

Any help is appreciated.

2

Try abdominal sit ups. These arn’t regular sit ups. These are done with a thick towel rolled up and placed under your lower back. I had an ex girlfriend with scoliosis and I had her doing these because she was complaining about back pain. Hers was more on her hip then her lower back though. Just a suggestion. Try it out see if helps. Lift your shoulders up off of the floor and flex your abs. Then start the movement. Lift up towards the ceiling though. Don’t crunch toward your knees. Feet flat on the floor and nothing holding them down, this should take your hip flexors out of the movement as well. If your doing this exercise correctly you will only be able to do a few reps.

3

[quote]Go heavy fool wrote:
Try abdominal sit ups. These arn’t regular sit ups. These are done with a thick towel rolled up and placed under your lower back. I had an ex girlfriend with scoliosis and I had her doing these because she was complaining about back pain. Hers was more on her hip then her lower back though. Just a suggestion. Try it out see if helps. Lift your shoulders up off of the floor and flex your abs. Then start the movement. Lift up towards the ceiling though. Don’t crunch toward your knees. Feet flat on the floor and nothing holding them down, this should take your hip flexors out of the movement as well. If your doing this exercise correctly you will only be able to do a few reps.[/quote]

Thanks… I’ll try that. The problem is that any exercise I’ve tried that I had to lie on the floor, I’ve had pain. I will try them with the support under it, thank you.

4

have you tried cable crunches? or crunches/situps using a swiss ball? the ball is squishy, maybe giving your back room to get into a better position rather than being jammed against the ground.

what about hanging knee/leg raises? if you have the station made for doing them it’d be even easier than hanging from a bar. or reverse crunches on a decline.

or a static hold like the “bridge”. not a back brigde mind.

5

[quote]kakugo wrote:
have you tried cable crunches? or crunches/situps using a swiss ball? the ball is squishy, maybe giving your back room to get into a better position rather than being jammed against the ground.

what about hanging knee/leg raises? if you have the station made for doing them it’d be even easier than hanging from a bar. or reverse crunches on a decline.

or a static hold like the “bridge”. not a back brigde mind.[/quote]

I’m not currently a member of any gym. I have a bench at home and I can do what I need to there… I’m not any type of advanced bodybuilder.

I don’t have anything to hang off from, besides at the park…but I workout in my backyard, so no.

But Go Heavy Fool, thank you very very very very VERY much. I tried what you said, to fold a thick towel and put it there the pain is, and it helped alot!! I’m not sure if I did the exercise right, however. It was basically me doing crunches… not any type of situp. You said not to try going towards my knees. I most likely did them wrong because I did 2 or 3 sets of 50 crunches for the first time in my life. My back hurt very little, and my abs felt the workout, and it felt great.

Thank you again, you’re a life saver.

6

Wouldn’t unilateral training be called for here to even out the strengths in multiple planes?

7

[quote]nizzle wrote:
kakugo wrote:
have you tried cable crunches? or crunches/situps using a swiss ball? the ball is squishy, maybe giving your back room to get into a better position rather than being jammed against the ground.

what about hanging knee/leg raises? if you have the station made for doing them it’d be even easier than hanging from a bar. or reverse crunches on a decline.

or a static hold like the “bridge”. not a back brigde mind.

I’m not currently a member of any gym. I have a bench at home and I can do what I need to there… I’m not any type of advanced bodybuilder.

I don’t have anything to hang off from, besides at the park…but I workout in my backyard, so no.

But Go Heavy Fool, thank you very very very very VERY much. I tried what you said, to fold a thick towel and put it there the pain is, and it helped alot!! I’m not sure if I did the exercise right, however. It was basically me doing crunches… not any type of situp. You said not to try going towards my knees. I most likely did them wrong because I did 2 or 3 sets of 50 crunches for the first time in my life. My back hurt very little, and my abs felt the workout, and it felt great.

Thank you again, you’re a life saver.
[/quote]

ok cool… whatever takes the pain away.

the exercise i was explaining was more of an abdominal lift, even though you’re probably still crunching at least your lower back is feeling good.

the towel helps big time… it takes the strain off of the lower back.

glad i could help

8

Hey I’ve got the same problem, had it since I was in school. My back gets too painful before I can get up a decent number of reps and work my abs at all. I’ve found that prone and side bridges are among the only things I can do. Side hip thrusts are another one, but obviously target obliques more. I’ve tried all different techniques but have yet to find anything involving spinal flexion that works and gives me no pain.