something for abs?

[ravioli]

hello guys! long time listener, first time caller.
i've been doing things on Darebee on and off for a few years, but this time i have been on a streak for about 2,5 months now, got in the rhythm of exercising daily after a long break, definitely feeling much better now! but i would like some advice.

problem: my elbow is busted, and i can't really do anything major with my right arm because of it. it has been healing for the last few months, but it i try anything beyond just basic bodyweight arm movements and wall-presses, it deteriorates.
so i can't do planks pretty much at all, even against the table, and when i look up abs & core workouts, i see planks everywhere left and right XD so i have been keeping to the exercises that have me on the floor on my back, right? so far so good!
extra problem: my lower back has been killing me lately (i think because i was hauling the holiday tree all over the place...), and that makes pretty much all the exercises for lower abs undoable. I think my abs, esp the lower part, are like... the weakest link in the whole buildup, and i feel like maybe the only reason i was able to do anything at all was because my lower back was taking all of the effort; and now that it's out of the fight - the measly abs cannot do much at all XD
So my line of thought is: if i start doing something that is like, super light and veeery slowly start building up the strength in the lower abs until eventually i won't have to rely on the lower back quite so much, and also manage to exercise somewhat while it is recovering. So the question is, what am i looking for.

tl;dr need some advice for relatively easy exercises for ab and specifically lower ab region that 1) is not planking, and 2) leaves the lower back mostly alone.
if it exists, please point me in that direction
salut!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Hi @ravioli . Welcome to the Hive!

I have a few suggestions:

1. Work on strengthening your lower back! Back & Core is an excellent program for this. It does have plank exercises in it. Quite a lot of them. But I think it would be worthwhile for you to do the program anyway and just skip any exercises your elbow won't allow you to do at present. Somewhere down the line, when your elbow is ready for planks again, you can redo the program fully. But you'll still derive benefit from doing what you can now.

2. If your back is too sore to begin Back & Core right away, try DAREBEE's Back Pain Relief Collection. You could also do these alongside the Back & Core program. These are all stand-alone workouts. But they're gentle enough, you could do one every day, as an add-on to whatever else you're working on. There's also a Lower Back Workouts Collection. It has some overlap with the BPR Collection, but some new stuff too.

3. Square One is a strength training program with no floor work. Standing exercises are likely the gentlest option for your back, while still delivering training benefit. Square One is a full body program, not specifically ab focused. But if you work on maintaining good posture throughout, you will be doing ab work every day!

4. DAREBEE also has a Standing Abs Collection. This is a collection of stand-alone workouts that all feature standing abdominal work (with no floor work).

5. If you're looking for something more bite-sized, DAREBEE also has some standing abs Challenges:




The first one I see you've already done. But there's no harm in repeating it. Or choose one of the others.

Injuries are so frustrating! It's great that you've been able to keep up with doing something daily for two and a half months, in spite of the challenges! You definitely have the right idea, to find something light enough that you can keep going with daily workouts, and build up slowly to more challenging work as your strength increases. I hope some of my suggestions will help.

 

[ravioli]

wow thank you! this is very helpful, i will look into these :3

 

[TopNotch]

@ravioli Another gentle but very effective ab exercise you might like to consider is Tiny Steps. You can even do them on a bed if your lower back is really sensitive to pressure, but this exercise hits the lower abs nicely.