Floor exercises for your core muscles

When you incorporate core-building exercises into your routine, you’re training your body to rely more on the muscles to support your weight and movement, which can take pressure off painful spinal and pelvic joints. These exercises can help you stretch and strengthen the core muscles of your body.

Floor exercises for your core muscles

The following exercises will strengthen your lower back, abdominal, and/or pelvic floor muscles. Targeted exercises are useful for these muscle groups, because they may not get much use during daily activities.

1. Pelvic tilt
This exercise involves a very slight internal movement that isolates and strengthens your core and pelvic floor muscles:

Lie on the floor with your knees bent, your feet placed on the floor parallel to each other, and your arms at your sides.

Tighten your lower abdominal/pelvic floor muscles, sinking your abdomen downward toward your spine without using your buttock or leg muscles to help you. Your pelvis will tilt upward slightly during this movement, but it won’t leave the floor.

Hold this position for 10 seconds, then relax your muscles.
Do 5 to 10 repetitions.

2. Bridge

Lie on your back on the floor, with knees bent and arms your sides. Tighten your abdominal muscles and slowly raise your buttocks from the floor, until your body is straight from your knees to your shoulders.
Hold the bridge position for 8 to 10 seconds, then slowly lower yourself to the starting position.

3. Lying march

Lie on your back on the floor, with your knees bent and arms at your sides.Tighten your stomach muscles and slowly raise your leg 3 to 4 inches from the floor. Hold it for a few seconds, then slowly lower it to the floor.
“March” for 30 seconds by alternating legs for two to three repetitions.

4. Bird dog

Start with your hands and knees on the floor and your back straight.
Raise one leg off the floor and behind you, with the knee slightly bent and no arch in the back or neck.

Hold for 6 seconds, then slowly lower to starting position.
For a slightly more advanced exercise, raise one leg and the opposite arm at the same time. Hold for 6 seconds, then slowly lower to starting position. Do 5 repetitions on each side.

These exercises are common exercises to strengthen the core and pelvis after back injury and also with post pregnancy back injuries. There is no one size fits all approach to spinal strengthening exercises and it is advisable to speak with one of our chiropractors before embarking on exercises if you have not already been evaluated.