What's a good way to work your abs other than situps?

What's a good way to work your abs other than situps?

I need it to fix my spine curvature.

working your abs alone isn't going to fix your curvature. If you have an excessive curve in your lower back you probably have a muscular imbalance causing "lower crossed syndrome." Look that up and ways to solve it.

The function of your abs is to resist spinal extension. Situps primarily work your hip flexors, not your abs.

Best thing to work your abs include front squats, overhead squats and leg raises.

>Best thing to work your abs include front squats, overhead squats and leg raises.


Front squats are goat.

Planks and side holds have helped me too.

New research shows doing planks isn't that good for you. If you flatten your back while you do planks it can lead to multifidus atrophy. Most people have weak multifidi anyway so this isn't ideal.

Side planks, however, are the best way to work your obliques.

Hanging leg raises are my go-to. Situps/crunches lead to bad imbalances because of tightening your core muscles without balancing your lower back. Leg raises engage the lower back on the eccentric portion.

>I need it to fix my spine curvature.
Do you know the origin of your spine curvature?
It could be either postural or a muscular thing, if it's the later you actually would need to improve the deep muscles of your back, not your abs.

In some cases it's because the deep muscles of you back are not strong enough while the muscles of your 'front' torso are too strong -compared to the ones of your back-

Pic related is an example that helps to fix it. you need to try and put all you back -vertebraes- against the wall or door, your hips, your shoulders and your skull while looking straight front.
So like making yourself a straight line against the wall.
You should also try and put your arms against the wall, with the inner side of your arms and the palm of your hands not facing the wall, so facing 'air'.

I'm tired and sleepy so I apologize if I'n mot making myself clear easily.

btw, you should keep your legs straight, not like a squat or a semi squat

I have an exaggerated spine curvature. It's like kyphosis on top, but I can get the top of my back mostly straight at the cost of exaggerated curvature on the bottom and vice versa. I just can't get my spine all straight.

I'm already doing pullups and delts to strengthen my upper back. But I'm guessing that won't be enough since I also need to be able to keep my lower spine straight, hence abs.

Additional info: I can do 100 pushups no problem but could barely do 3 pullups until recently, now I think I see the connection.

>I just can't get my spine all straight.
I know many people who weren't able to get their spine right with that exercise, they could put their hands in the space between their backs and the wall but it gets better with practice.
It can hurt because the muscles you're not using are actually working in that position.

I suggest you to make a visit to an osteopath or fisiotherapist, they will definetely tell you what's best.

I don't know, I tried that in the past and it didn't change anything. Isn't that a flexibility exercise?

What worked for me for flexibility is lying on my back with legs raised on a chair, and especially putting two tennis balls on either side of my spine at different levels and pushing down on top of them to bend my spine back. But after that my spine reverts to its usual shape so that must be a question of muscular imbalance.

Also fuck when I try to do that and try to push my lower back against the wall, my spine just ends up bending at my neck, pushing my throat forward.

>I don't know, I tried that in the past and it didn't change anything.
Did you go to either an osteopath or a fisiotherapist, told them about your back and they did nothing about it neither did they talk with you about it?
If that's the case you went to a very unprofessional one. Try again.

>Isn't that a flexibility exercise?
Nope, the exercise of the wall that I described you is one specifically to work the 'postural' muscles of your back to keep your back straight. And it's hard, very hard to do it if your muscles are weak.
When you lift you don't work the muscles that help you keep your correct posture. You should work on them too.

What you are describing with the chair and the tennis balls is not flexibility, is stretching, and you have just answered a question I was going to make you
Do you stretch? I'm betting the answer is no.

I know you have no reason to believe me, but you totally sound like the typical gym guy/bodybuilder who doesn't stretch and whose back and shape will turn into a croissant -if you're not one already- because you don't pay attention to you a) 'postural muscles' I'm pretty sure there is a better word for it but right now I can't think of it, and b) the importance of stretching.

>Also fuck when I try to do that and try to push my lower back against the wall, my spine just ends up bending at my neck, pushing my throat forward.
I'm telling you, your problem is postural/weak postural muscles, and it can be solved at least partially with the exercise I told you, about 5min, 5 times a day, more if you want.
If you work MORE your abs without fixing your back with the exercise I told you or without visiting one of the professionals I already mentioned your problem is only going to get worse and worse.

I know you want to believe that your abs are weak and that's why you have bad posture but it's most likely the opposite.
I say most likely because this a forum, we are not talking face to face.

Wait so how does the exercise work? Just try to be flat against the wall, trying to push the lower back against it? When I do that I have to use my abs to push back, and I mostly feel it in my neck bending forward from the curvature being moved up.

And what's the second pic? Are you supposed to lower yourself and bend the knees?

You have to be as flat as possible to the wall, from head to feet.
All your spine must touch the wall, both your shoulders must touch the wall, the back of your hips must touch the wall, your skull must touch the wall while keeping your head with 'a normal position' that means without looking up or down. You must keep that position for either as long as possible or for ~5min each time.

I explained in the post with the pic about it, I'm aware is not the best pic to illustrate it but it was the best I could find at that moment.

What I said about working more your abs without working your back was assuming that you were going to specifically go and do abs exercises unrelated to this back exercise I told you.

And again, go and make an appoinment with either an osteopath or a fisiotherapist.

Captain's Chair and planks have been shown to activate the most number of core muscles.

squats and deadlifts

HOW THE FUCK DO YOU WORK YOUR CORE, I NEED ANSWERS.

Alright thanks, though it's literally impossible for me to get my spine that straight. What happens when I push my lower back flat against the wall is that my upper back starts bending sooner and I end up with my spine bending forward at my neck to the point where it hurts my throat.

I heard planks are useless for longer than 3 minutes.

How much do you lift your hips doing leg raises Veeky Forums?

I feel it in my back, but my abs are relatively doing jack shit.

Planks are a waste of time. Spending 10 minutes planking is wasting that time when you could be doing leg raises instead.

Planks where you flex everything really hard however are actually worth it. You shake uncontrollably and can't sustain it for any length that would qualify as wasting time.

Also ab rollouts are great. If you really want to take it seriously you'll do it standing.

Hanging leg raises.

And squats and deads. That's really all you need. Weighted chins and pulls will work it good too. You stop feeling the burn once you get used to it though.