Re: about stomach exercises

[Guest guest]

Hi SB - Funny you should mention not doing the stomach crunches

correctly. I know someone who is related to a exercise trainer and I

asked them to pose my stomach problems to her. My friend said that

the trainer told her that if your spine is fused and it doesn't bend

in order to get full range of motion in a stomach crunch, then you

were better off not doing them, because you can actually make it

worse. Unless you can get the full effect, you can actually force the

stomach muscles to protrude when working them rather than having

them " flatten " ! So, I haven't done them since!! I did buy the " Ab

Swing " - love it and I do feel it has helped dramatically. Yet, there

is no doubt in my mind that the flatback is partly responsible. I

think your doc is right, when you hunch , your stomach is going to

naturally protrude. Is there anyone out there that begs to differ -

anyone with Flatback and a 6 pack ab to tell me that I am 100% wrong?

Anyone out there whom can give us hope and prove me wrong!?! Also, I

would like to ask another question. Does anyone work out on a

elliptical trainer? I love mine as it doesn't hurt my back at all,

BUT I find that the balls of my feel hurt so much when I use it. I

think I lean forward just enough that I put a lot of my weight on my

toes and balls of my feet, so that I am always reminding myself to

try to stand straighter and use the heel of my foot too. Does anyone

else have this problem?

from RI

> several years ago, I decided to spend my summer off work getting

> into shape. I worked out with small weights and the " Body

Electric "

> tv show on PBS. I also did the 7 Day Tummy

> Flattening program and started riding my bike every day.

>

> At the end of the summer when it was time to go back to work (I'm a

> teacher), I could not get into any of my clothes--they were too

> small!!

>

> My stomach sticks out worse than ever, but it is fairly firm. I

> thought it must be from not doing the crunches correctly, but my

> scoliosis doctor said it could also be from the flatback. He

> said, " now that you are leaning so far forward, your belly has to

go

> somewhere " I had hoped for a suggestion on what to do about it,

> but I am going to stick with the bicycle. The angle of lean for

> riding is very comfortable!! (but indoor exercise bikes are not)

[Guest guest]

Prior to my revision surgery, my stomach was flat and " cute " . Since surgery,

it protrudes and is always the focus of wardrobe difficulties. Not only does

it protrude, it is horribly misshapen, the left side protruding more than

the right, and my belly button is nowhere near center. Sure wish I had my

flatback tummy back.

What kind of eliptical trainer do you have? Make and model, action. I'm

considering purchasing one, since it is one of the few excercise machines my

surgeon will allow me, but hesitate. They aren't cheap, and I don't want to

get one unless I'm sure it's what I want.

Donna

..- your doc is right, when you hunch , your stomach is going to

>naturally protrude. Is there anyone out there that begs to differ -

>anyone with Flatback and a 6 pack ab to tell me that I am 100% wrong?

>Anyone out there whom can give us hope and prove me wrong!?! Also, I

>would like to ask another question. Does anyone work out on a

>elliptical trainer? I love mine as it doesn't hurt my back at all,

>BUT I find that the balls of my feel hurt so much when I use it. I

..

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[Guest guest]

Donna...

It sounds to me like you have what some surgeons call an incisional

hernia, direct hernia, or ventral wall hernia. It's not the same type

of hernia that we most commonly hear about, but an abdominal wall

defect which is caused by the incision made for the anterior portion

of your spine surgery. It can be repaired surgically, although I've

never heard of anyone whose repair was permanent. I had mine repaired

and it looked great for 3-4 years, but eventually returned to it's

original size and shape.

Dr. Sigurd Berven at UCSF tells me that this problem can be avoided by

" closing the abdominal wounds in separate layers and also sometimes

using mesh to reinforce the closure as a mechanism to reduce the

incidence of ventral hernias. "

Regards,

[Guest guest]

Hmmm...I had a physical therapist when I started having back pain

again (5 years ago) who taught me to hold my stomach in when doing

sit-ups (actually partial sit-ups) and other ab work so that my

stomach wouldn't stick out. I'm doing pilates now and I find that

has really helped tone my abs.

I've also learned from hanging out at the Weight Watchers web site

(I lost 15 lbs. two years ago, yeah!) and a lot of women who have

lost a bit of weight have trouble getting their tone back in their

abs. (I didn't get the impression that that was you case, but it

might help others on the group.) So, what I mean to say is that it

may not be a Flatback thing but a women in their 40s and older kind

of thing.

Having any kind of abdominal surgery like a c-section will also make

it hard to get back tone in the abs area. Again, I've seen people

who've had great results with pilates. Helps with my back pain too.

Hope this helps,

Robin

> several years ago, I decided to spend my summer off work getting

> into shape. I worked out with small weights and the " Body

Electric "

> tv show on PBS. I also did the 7 Day Tummy

> Flattening program and started riding my bike every day.

>

> At the end of the summer when it was time to go back to work (I'm

a

> teacher), I could not get into any of my clothes--they were too

> small!!

>

> My stomach sticks out worse than ever, but it is fairly firm. I

> thought it must be from not doing the crunches correctly, but my

> scoliosis doctor said it could also be from the flatback. He

> said, " now that you are leaning so far forward, your belly has to

go

> somewhere " I had hoped for a suggestion on what to do about it,

> but I am going to stick with the bicycle. The angle of lean for

> riding is very comfortable!! (but indoor exercise bikes are not)

[Guest guest]

Oh my gosh, the same thing just happened to me. About 4 months ago

when I first started this group, I decided to get my back muscles

back in shape in hopes of lessening the lumbar pain. And now my

stomach is definately firmer but definately sticks out. I thought

maybe I was just gaining weight, oh no, what have I done?

Another reason beside flat back might be because we have a shorter

torso because of being curved, there is just less height in the

waist which makes it protrue???

Sandy

> several years ago, I decided to spend my summer off work getting

> into shape. I worked out with small weights and the " Body

Electric "

> tv show on PBS. I also did the 7 Day Tummy

> Flattening program and started riding my bike every day.

>

> At the end of the summer when it was time to go back to work (I'm

a

> teacher), I could not get into any of my clothes--they were too

> small!!

>

> My stomach sticks out worse than ever, but it is fairly firm. I

> thought it must be from not doing the crunches correctly, but my

> scoliosis doctor said it could also be from the flatback. He

> said, " now that you are leaning so far forward, your belly has to

go

> somewhere " I had hoped for a suggestion on what to do about it,

> but I am going to stick with the bicycle. The angle of lean for

> riding is very comfortable!! (but indoor exercise bikes are not)