If you have read any of my previous articles about core training you would know that I am not a big fan of isolated abdominal exercises. However, the question that often comes up is why do I use the lower abdominal test as part of our assessment? And why do I often prescribe it as an exercise to do at home with most beginners? It seems like a complete contradiction that I often rate isolated abdominal training very poorly, yet I still use an exercise like the lower abdominal leg test. There are several reasons for this as I will explain in great detail today. But the most interesting fact with this exercise is that 90% of all clients I test in our assessment fail! And it is the reasons they fail that find this exercise very useful.
What Are The Best Exercises If You Have Hyper-mobile Joints?
When we experience pain or tightness in an area of our body we have been told we must stretch, massage and loosen the affected area to regain the lost mobility of the joint or muscle. This is the typical approach of health therapists, corrective exercise and most rehabilitation programs. And in most cases it is the most logical place to start, and often pain will subside and things go back to normal quite quickly with this approach. However in some cases this can be the worst thing you can do! For the person who has too much flexibility, otherwise known as hyper-mobile, they will not respond well to this approach, for they lack stability and need to be tightened up, not loosened. For 20 years I have worked with over 1000 people with all types of injuries and when I first started I rarely came across this case. However, in the past few years I have seen a huge increase in these cases, and many times people come to see me after having tried several therapists, trainers and various health modalities that did not work, or even made the condition worse. I am not sure as to why this seems more common, and I see this problem mainly in females, but I believe one big factor is the rapid growth of Yoga and Pilates style training that emphasize more flexibility. And while both these are great forms of exercise, they have the potential to ruin the joints of a hyper mobile person if not used wisely, and especially if you do not move well standing up.