BCD

I'm a hard gainer that had back surgery to remove the herniation on both sides of my L5 last fall. My back (and my confidence in my back) recovered enough that I am now working out HARD three to four days a week and eating great. I've lost about as much fat as I possibly can, and look great except that my abs don't really POP! They are lean and you can see a little bit of definition, but not a lot. I do a lot of crunches and the ab machine. I haven't done anything too funky (hanging situps, etc.), since I'm still nervous about hurting my back. Has anyone with prior back problems ever walked the fine line of working their abs enough to get a six-pack w/o getting reinjured? Any suggestions on good exercises that may not be as tough on my back? Thanks.

Cowman

No, I havn't..but I'll say it is, like you say, going to be hard for you to get those defined abs without working your lower back..perhaps your doctor can shed some light on the situation.

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pocon1

abs are a muscle. High endurance ab work like crunches will not tend to build that muscular abdominal wall. However, heavy work might irritate the back. exercises that are hard enough to limit you to 15 reps or less is what it takes to really build muscle. Just like doing 30 arm curls in a row will not build much in the way of biceps.

BCD

Thanks for the responses. I realize that I need to do harder / lower rep exercises, but I'm afraid that I'll tear my back up in the process. I guess I'll just have to start trying some of the more "agressive" exercises and see how it goes. I was hoping that there was someone on the TFP with similar back problems who could tell me how they overcame this issue. I'll let you guys know how things go. Thanks again.

braindamage351

What good are abs if you're a cripple?

Seaver

been 8 months since my back surgery, I'm just barely starting up crunches. Just take it EASY.

Poloboy

Braindamage pretty much summed it up. I would just accept the fact that you won't ever safely have the abs you used to. I'm sure you know better than most people just how debilitating a back problem can be, and how important a healthy back is. In my opinion, extra definition in the abs isn't worth the risk of injuring your back, which will be much worse the second time given that it's been injured before.