As a trainer the two areas that I often get asked if we can work on are abs and butt. Yes, they’re most often requested for aesthetic reasons and believe me I am right there with you. However my favorite thing about training the abs and glutes are that when worked correctly, they help to minimize low back pain and stabilize the body. Here’s the problem, when worked incorrectly it can cause or exacerbate low back and neck pain. So what’s the trick for making sure that you minimize the chance for low back pain and receive the most toning and strengthening benefits?

Focus on stabilizing the low back and neck! Yes that’s right. Pain in those two places is often caused by two much movement. When we look at the body, the areas that we often experience pain are areas that are built to stabilize and we end up moving too much. So let’s chat about what areas we are talking about! The knees, low back and neck. When we move them, we often do so because we’re compensating for lack of mobility in other areas, such as the ankles, hips and upper back.  So by stabilizing the low back and neck we not only help to strengthen the abs and glutes, we also minimize pain in the low back and neck AND in turn it allows our hips and upper back to open up! Below we show you 3 examples of exercises where we often compensate by moving from the low back and neck and how you can fix it! The TOP photo is INCORRECT and what we often tend to do. The BOTTOM photo is CORRECT and what we should be doing.

You will always hear us use cues and give directions to help ensure your form keeps you safe as you do our programming. When doing any exercise program, quality is more important than quantity to ensure you stay safe and healthy while also seeing the benefits and results. Our first workout program will be released in the coming weeks and we do not want you to miss it! There will be an exclusive offer for the first program so make sure you are subscribed to receive emails and be the first to know when it is available.

The TOP photo is INCORRECT and what we often tend to do. The BOTTOM photo is CORRECT and what we should be doing.