The harmful ups body and how to make them safe

Ups the body from a prone position seem a simple exercise, but even they can not work properly. Instead get a tight stomach is not a health problem, make sure the technique.

The weak abdominal muscles to do exercises dangerous

The main problem in the performance of ups housing - weak rectus abdominis. To make it easier to understand the cause, we divide the exercise into two phases:

• twisting when you hop off the floor the upper body and lower back remains pressed to the floor;
• lifting body when you tear off your lower back off the floor and move to a sitting position.

In the first phase reduction of the rectus abdominis muscle pulls you forward.

When the lower part of the spine off the floor, the work included muscles, hip flexors: iliopsoas muscle, straight muscle of the thigh (quadriceps one of the heads), the sartorius and tensor fascia lata. Due to them, the body is bent at the hip, and you go into a sitting position.

Strong abdominal muscles tighten up the pelvis to lift the housing phase, so that the load to the lumbar spine is removed and the exercise becomes safe.

What happens if the weak abdominal muscles? After the phase of twisting you can not keep the body at the expense of the rectus muscles of the abdomen and try to get up with the help of the flexor muscles of the thigh. The pelvis moves back, waist bends, and is created by the compression of the vertebrae. Iliopsoas muscle pulls the vertebrae forward, breaking the neutral position of the spine, which is detrimental to his health.

In reality, the correct and incorrect techniques look like this:

If you properly follow several approaches you can feel the pain in the lumbar spine. And if you already have back problems, you will only aggravate the situation.

How to fix it

Replace ups or torsion bar

Instead ups body makes twisting, keeping your lower back off the floor. This will protect the spine from injury and will strengthen the rectus abdominis.

However, in the twisting has its dangers. At this time we are talking about the tension in the cervical spine. Some beginners strongly leaning forward neck. Multiple repetitions of this exercise, plus work on the computer with a constant voltage in the neck - and training can result in pain. But there is a solution.

When performing crunches, try to keep your neck relaxed, do not pull your chin to your chest.

You can also replace the housing on the ups lath or pulling your knees to your chest in a vise on the bar.

Perform ups body slowly

If you slow down much repetition, you just do not get to pull themselves at the expense of the hip flexor muscles. In addition, slow ascents body - great for working out of the press. So he napryazhotsya much more than during rapid or sudden movements.

There is an interesting variation of this exercise - slow twisting with his hands over his head and legs straight. Lie on your back, straighten your legs, stretch your arms above your head and start to curl, lifting the body. The task - to do the exercise as slowly as possible. After straightening begins to descend too slowly and linger, if possible at the point where your muscles feel the greatest stress.

That's all. Do the exercises correctly, and you will protect yourself from injury in the gym and during home workouts.