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The Ab Wars
One of the hottest debates that still lingers in the
fitness/rehab and sports performance industries is that over the
correct use of the abdominal wall during movement and exercise.
On one side, you've got the drawing-in camp that believes that
the only way to safely protect your spine during exercise and
movement is by drawing or "sucking" in your abdominal wall. This
supposedly recruits what is known as the "inner-unit"
musculature and primarily the infamous "transversus abdominus
muscle." On the other side, a different camp preaches the
importance of using all of the abdominal layers to perform what
is called "bracing." By bracing one doesn't suck in or push out
the abdominal wall. Instead, one just "stiffens" the muscles to
a slight degree depending on the load or perturbation being
encountered. The purpose of this article is to take a closer
look at either side of this heated debate and come up with some
logical conclusions based on current scientific and anecdotal
research. Strap in, it's going to get bumpy!
The Theory behind Drawing-in
We'll begin our tour of the abdominal universe by looking at the
proposed theory of the benefits of drawing-in or bringing the
belly button towards the spine. By completing such an action,
the body's inner muscular unit is supposedly activated which
starts a complex process of stabilization mechanisms for the
lower back, spine, and pelvis. The real impetus behind this
theory stems from some physical therapy research down in
Australia in the 1990's. What these researches found was that
many post-injury and post-surgical patients had delayed
activation of the transversus abdominus and lumbar multifidus
muscles upon initiating many types of movements such as reaching
for example. For the interested reader, get the book Therapeutic
Exercise for Spinal Segmental Stabilization in Low Back Pain by
Richardson, Jull, Hodges and Hides. In this text, the authors
put forth their theories based on research of low back pain
patients. The basic gist of their theory is summed up in the
introduction of the above-mentioned text:
"Spinal segmental stabilization is designed to specifically
improve the underlying joint stabilization rather than training
functional movement and hoping joint control improves
concurrently"
Hmmm, let's get this straight; train in an isolated way and
then "hope" that joint control improves during functional or
"real-life" movements and performance! I'd call that a giant
leap of faith based on what motor control research tells us
about specificity. Try it with any healthy athlete and be
prepared to be disappointed. Here are some of the reasons why
this theory does not pan out in the real world:
1. Firstly, there's very little evidence that training
stabilization, balance or any other motor skill in an isolated
way carries over to real world type of situations that often
occur under rapid or ballistic type of conditions. This goes
back to the good old SAID (specific adaptation to imposed
demands) principle that has been known for decades. On a similar
note, balance strategies that are often encountered in sport
rely more heavily on feedforward systems rather than the common
gym forms of balance training that are based more on feedback
systems. In discussing issues such as balance and stability
these issues are important to distinguish because they are the
most fundamental principles of motor learning. Feedforward
systems basically are preprogrammed movement strategies in the
brain. One does not have time to think, or adjust their body to
accommodate the situations. Feedback systems allow one to make
corrections to the movement such as in squatting, deadlifting,
or pressing a weight overhead.
2. Inner-unit activation type of exercise strategies involves
conscious activation of specific isolated muscles that can lead
to "paralysis by analysis" during real life and sporting-type of
situations. The old axiom of the body knowing "movement not
muscles" comes to mind again and again. Also, it is not
realistic to think that one could consciously contract their
inner-unit while fighting, sprinting, changing direction at a
fast speed, or performing a complex sporting skill.
3. Conscious attempt to isolate the transversus abdominus muscle
can actually result in posterior rotation of the pelvis which
would also cause flexion of the lumbar spine; a strategy that
cannot be recommended during exercises like squats or deadlifts!
This is also contradictory to most sporting movements. So, while
so many argue their
inner-unit is more active the structure is
actually severally compromised and at higher risk for injury.
4. Fourthly, using a suspension bridge model of the spine,
Canadian Spine Biomechanist Dr. Stuart McGill has shown that
hollowing (drawing in) the spine causes the spine to be
unstable. This is because drawing-in actually reduces the size
of the base of the guy wires, which reduces the muscles
contribution to spine stiffness. Ultimately, this can only lead
to a decrease in spine stability.
The Theory Behind Bracing
The theory behind bracing requires much less explanation because
it is much easier to visualize and understand. By bracing, one
activates all the layers of the abdominal wall including the
glorified inner-unit muscles. Going back to the suspension
bridge model explained by McGill, during a bracing maneuver, one
maintains the size of the base of the guy wires and thus
increases spine stability, which reduces the tendency for spinal
segments to buckle. An interesting phenomenon is that this
naturally occurs in most healthy non-injured back patients when
breath is held during an exertion. It's as if the body knows the
kind of stability required and just unconsciously makes the
person hold his or her breath. This breath holding significantly
increases intra-abdominal pressure, which will be explained in
greater detail below.
The role of intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is often a forgotten
component of spinal stability. In Dr. Zatsiorsky's famous text
Science and Practice of Strength Training, he states that even
when a person leans with 80 kg weight the load on the lumbar
vertebrae exceeds 1,000 kg. As we all know the body is capable
of lifting far more than 80 kg. Dr. Zatsiorsky states that IAP
can reduce pressure on the intervertebral disks by 20% on
average and 40% in more extreme situations.
IAP can be increased by utilizing the Valsalva maneuver and by
through contraction of the oblique abdominal muscles. The
Valsalva maneuver is very similar to Power Breathing taught by
Pavel and this is why this method of breathing should be taught
to those wishing to increase stability of the body during
lifting. The obliques also are vital in creating IAP along with
the diaphragm. Because of the insertion points of the obliques,
they can help the extensor muscles by adding stability to the
erector spinae fascia. Developing strong obliques appears to be
necessity for creating a stable spine. Exercises such as Janda
sit-ups, suitcase deadlifts, and full contact twists fit the
bill nicely.
The late Dr. Mel Siff cites some other great methods of
increasing abdominal tension, "Similarly, the traditional boxing
technique of using punches, medicine balls, or powerful thrusts
on the abdomen extrinsically increases the mechanical tension in
the abdominal muscles. In other words, inward or outward
distention of the abdomen during forced breath holding produces
greater muscle tension and thereby offers a stronger stimulus to
conditioning." No need to draw in here!
In Conclusion
In the final analysis, there is some credible science that backs
up the importance of some of the deeper, stabilizing muscles of
the spine and pelvis. Inner-unit activation exercises like
trasversus abdominus and multifidus muscle activation techniques
may have a place for initial stages of back rehabilitation.
After that, they are quite limited for healthy subjects
performing dynamic movements. For more integrated movements,
trying to draw in may actually compromise the quality of
movement and create an environment for injury as described by
spine experts such as Stuart McGill.
To conclude, we believe that if you teach people the proper body
mechanics (dynamic posture) for all exercises, teach proper use
of the breath, and use appropriate loading strategies, most
spinal injuries can be avoided. Of course, this does not account
for the few unfortunate accidents that can occur during life and
sport where no amount of training or conditioning is going to
keep you from getting injured. We hope that this article has
been informative and we would love to hear your questions and
comments.
About the author:
About the authors- Keats Snideman and Josh Henkin are Strength
and Conditioning Specialist who live in Phoenix, Arizona. To
contact Keats visit www.keatssnideman.com or via e-mail at
ksnideman@lycos.com. Josh can be reached at www.joshhenkin.com
or josh@joshhenkin.com. Josh is also the author of the Beyond
Functional Training Series.
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