"Spinal flexion" refers to the bending or curvature of the spine, primarily in the forward direction.
Full definition
A balanced workout would include a modest number
of spinal flexion exercises and, then, only if you have a healthy back, as well as few rotation exercises to target the obliques.
It's important for you to limit flexion in this pose by resting your chest and belly on your thigh, because excessive
spinal flexion in combination with a sidebend can be even more dangerous for the disks and other soft tissue around your spine than excessive flexion on its own.
Crunches, sit ups and other
spinal flexion exercises are fine but as your spine moves in a variety of directions, you need to select a variety of exercises if you want to maximise your abdominal development.
In fact, repetitive or
excessive spinal flexion (e.g. bending your chest toward your knees at the back) is just about the worst thing you can do for your back, says David Larson, CSCS, a strength coach at Pulse Fitness in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Unloaded slow roll ups or some easy unloaded cat / cow flossing
into spinal flexion can certainly be restorative, but the problem lies within the individual context of each person executing rounded spine movements, in where they could also be a poor idea, or one that slowly compounds over years, or decades.
Deemsy explained that we wouldn't be doing any crunches or reverse crunches because those types of ab exercises
require spinal flexion, which can increase tension on the abdominal wall, causing the left and right sides to separate even more.
The biggest and most dangerous mistake I see is rounding the lower back, also known
as spinal flexion.
Most people do a predominance of abdominal exercises that
involve spinal flexion, like basic crunches, reverse crunches, and their variations.
Also, reaching depth in a narrow stance squat requires tucking the lumbar spine under the torso in order to facilitate hip flexion, which can be bad news
because spinal flexion under a load will place undue pressure on certain segments of the spine and contribute to bulging discs and other issues.
If athletes train the core
through spinal flexion, extension and rotation they are not efficient at redistributing and redirecting force.
And if performed regularly and correctly, this rowing variation with horizontal band resistance can provide several unique benefits such as teaching you proper hip - hinging mechanics, improving balance,
eliminating spinal flexion and forcing your lats to give their 100 % by both protracting and elevating them.
The rectus abdominus is responsible
for spinal flexion and lets you do things like sit up from a lying position, pulling your chest down toward your hips.
You'll get a more powerful stretch in the Rollout exercise, and a more powerful contraction, all without doing excessive and
dangerous spinal flexion.
If you are training a lot of
forward spinal flexion you should also include back extension as part of your movement practice.
A 1984 - study by Sinaki and colleagues also provided evidence for this risk; the study found higher incidence of vertebral compression fractures in a study group
doing spinal flexion in a chair, plus sit - ups on the floor.
The plank requires an isometric contraction, or static holding, of the spine, whereas the crunch
requires spinal flexion.
The movement of cat - cow, known
as spinal flexion, increases the circulation of the spinal fluid.
Plank variations, loaded carries, and movements that require you to
resist spinal flexion, extension, or rotation are just a few examples of the types of exercises you should be performing to strengthen your core.
In fact, repetitive or
excessive spinal flexion (e.g. bending your chest forward toward your knees) is just about the worst thing you can do for your back, says David Larson, CSCS, a strength coach at Pulse Fitness in Scottsdale, Arizona.
By providing spinal support, the belt reduces the amount
of spinal flexion, spinal extension and lateral flexion of the spine, which puts the body in a more favorable biomechanical position for lifting with the legs getting a bigger part of the work than the back.
Unstable surfaces can be utilised with a plethora of dynamic core exercises and are classically positioned under the trunk or feet to perform the curl up, sit up or
spinal flexion exercises.
When you you perform a classic crunch, you round your lower back to allow a bend forward from the waist (
spinal flexion).
These issues set the stage for squatting characterized by quad - dominance, excessive knee flexion, glute inactivity, and
spinal flexion.
Try a few rounds of
spinal flexion — waves of the spine — for 4 counts.
This way you can gain massive form improvements because your back will be forced to maintain its natural arch and
spinal flexion will be impossible.
Note that while sitting in
spinal flexion (image on the far right) your torso angle is the smallest
The rest of your body is to remain as still as can be with the naval still fixed forward while minimizing
any spinal flexion to relieve the hip of its duties.
Unfortunately, the function of the rectus abdominus (the six - pack area of the abs) is
spinal flexion (curling the spine forward) not hip flexion (bending at the waist like this machine forces you to do).
This workshop will focus on understanding the common low back conditions of disc injury, flat back, and osteoporosis, as well as why spinal extension can aid and
spinal flexion can exacerbate these conditions.
Further the movement involves
spinal flexion and too much spinal flexion can lead to problems down the line.
You see, every time you crunch, you do what is called
spinal flexion, and spinal flexion compresses the disks between your vertebrae.
When you roll down the gravity pulls you OUT of
spinal flexion, which you resist with your abdominal contraction, strengthening those muscles.
The hip flexion will happen with
spinal flexion, but spinal flexion won't happen naturally if you just do hip flexion.
Spinal flexion is the major goal of this exercise, not hip flexion.
The technical term for that is «
spinal flexion.»
When you do a sit up the natural curve of your back is flattened and the motion tugs on your lower spine muscles, which leads to
spinal flexion and puts you at the risk of injury.