Here is a variation on my favorite abdominal exercise. It appears that the traditional crunches are not that beneficial, but that we need to find ways to strengthen the long and the deeper abdominal muscles. I am seeing a real change in strength and posture from doing these.
Of course, as always, make sure this is the right thing to do for YOU. Do not stress or hurt your back trying this. As so often, less is more, and going slower and finding ease in the movement are the most beneficial.
The variation I have learned to the very first exercise on the video should be possible to do for most people with chronic pain. When I feel lazy and don’t feel like doing much, this is the one. It does work without stressing the rest of your body. Variation: Put one hand each on a hip bone to work on not moving your hips. This one is not done in neutral, but press your back into the floor gently and pull your upper abdominals not just in but rather UP toward and under your ribs. Then proceed to to the gentle lifting of one foot at a time. 1 inch is enough, as she says, you don’t even have to lift the foot off the floor. It’s not as easy as you think to keep your hip completely even. Keep breathing. Relax your shoulders, jaws, neck. Just do a few to start. Enjoy.
This is from Undulation Exercises, a lovely website with all kinds of inspiration to gently keep moving. You may consider trying her 21 day challenge starting here.