Hi everyone!
We were discussing last night on the chat with Jack and Rumel of the belly-back muscles tension balance.
I must give away that I have some pretty weak abs but my back is strong.
When I was to the uni, I used to do musculation, and everytime we did sit ups I was unable to do more than 20 of them!
Although I was way better than my friends when it came to lombar exercices!!
I'm typically the kind of guy who has a bit of fat quite localized on the belly , though I'm not overweight at all.
I quite agree with the point that it's better to don't try to contract anythings during the KSMO sessions, I'm rather trying to relax anything.
Relaxing is probalbly a way to trigger a better balance between the lombar and the belly regions.
It seems that it follows the yin yang harmony.
When the yang (the back) strengthens the yin decrease (the abs).
It's probaby why so many people fail in managing to strengthen their abs with sit-ups.
I believe that everyone does'nt have a naturally well balanced belly-back muscles tension, and it may have an incidence on the qi circulation.
For exemple, I notice that women that have a soft belly (like me)
seem to struggle a lot more to reach an heartgasm than the the others! (not that they don't turn me up as much lol)
Relaxing the yang is probably the way but I'm wandering how I could relax specifically my back to induce a better balance between those muscles.
Any suggestions?

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Tao

Hey Tao,

I'm pretty sure a good balance between back and abdominal muscles can be achieved by working out those specific muscles. In my workout routine I have one day of triceps, shoulders and chest, day two of abs, day three of back, biceps and forearms. Day four is usually a leg workout. Basically I aternate abs and back to different days but I imagine they can be done on the same day. Core strength is so important in our everyday lives and with the proper exercise, will prevent injury.

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"Life should be fragrant, rooftop to the basement." ~ U2

hi tao,

i have found that balancing of the lumbar/ab/core muscle system is not necessarily an easy process. there are fairly dynamic relationships among all of these muscles involved and the results frequently depends upon factors that are tricky to self-control. for starters, the most important muscles of the central part of the body are not the 6-pack abs or the lumbar muscles. rather they are the transversus abdominus (TrAb), diaphragm and multifidi. if these are not trained and then used in your work outs properly, your results may be compromised.

learning to use the diaphragm is one place to start and probably the easiest. during exercise most of us do chest breathing. this turns off the diaphragm and facilitates the fight/flight mechanisms. if you breath only into the abdomen when exercising (even during aerobics) you will find that you will have more relaxation and better endurance. if your not sure how to do this or any of the exercises that are mentioned below then you should be able to find them online.

the second exercise to learn is often called by many names; the most common is abdominal hollowing. this activates the TrAb. it is important to activate this muscle while doing any abdominal work. it is also important to do ab work during a sustained exhalation only. you have to pause more often than you may be used to but the results are better and you'll be less likely to aggravate your lower back.

the multifidi are best activated by doing workouts on a stability ball (this includes ab work or upper body dumbbell work). the activation is pretty much automatic so don't worry too much about focusing specifically on them.

the last exercise is a modified kegel. this involves contracting the pelvic floor as if your stopping the flow of urine. traditionally, these are given to women after delivery, however, they work great for facilitating activation of key lower back and pelvic muscles). kegels are usually instructed as being held for 10 seconds and held as tightly as possible. instead, i instruct my patients to hold it only 2x what it takes to stop the flow of urine and for 3 seconds. if done 75 to 100x per day there will be many positive changes. these will enhance your ksmo practice as well. you will see changes with this latter one in three to six weeks.

this may be more than you want to know, however, it has worked well on hundreds of my patients. if you master these core exercises and use them with the exercises your already doing, big changes will come.

tandello