Your lower abdominals are important because they help support your lower back and benefit your posture. They are very important in lumbo-pelvic stability. When they lower abdominals are at work they help take pressure off the low back and lift the torso up and out of the pelvis. This helps to decrease the pressure put on the knees, hips, and ankles.
There are many problems that can occur if your lower abdominals do not activate, such as:
- Lower back pain
- Hip, knee and ankle problems
- Neck, shoulder and upper back pain
The reason why our abdominals might not be activating is because of inactivity, this can also happen with our glutes. Most of us sit around for long periods of time which causes these muscles to turn off.
There are really easy ways to help activate your lower abdominal muscles. One great movement to help you activate your lower abdominals is the pelvic tilt. For this movement you lay on your back and have your knees bent up into the air with your feet flat on the floor. You can also activate them by walking around, while walking try contracting your lower abdominals.
Make sure we are focusing on all our muscles in our bodies, not just the ones everyone knows about. Every muscle plays their own role in how we function. Don’t forget to activate your lower abdominals every once in a while, they play a big role in our bodies!
