BACK PAIN – probably one of the number 1 issues that most people deal with today! I’m sure you’ve either dealt with it, or had a colleague, friend, or family member complain of such annoyance! If you look at our lifestyles, our hobbies, and what we do in our downtime it’s pretty easy to see that we are a lot more inactive than we have ever been! Inactive, or sedentary lifestyles whether due to work, or other causes can have a sever impact on muscles of the body that are supposed to aid in support and stabilization! Enter the TVA.l….the muscle that you and most people have never heard of!
The TVA muscle or Transverse Abdominis is a muscle that:
- Is hidden under the obliques
- Is the deepest abdominal muscle
- Wraps around the spine
- Runs horizontally across the abdomen
Why is the TVA so important? The TVA is responsible for a lot of the movement and support that we take for granted such as:
- Breathing
- Activating core musculature
- Stabilizing pelvis and the lower back
The TVA is a natural “weight belt” of the body! It resists flexion of the spine (lower back) and basically acts as a muscle girdle! Now, if you have a TVA that is inactive from sedentary lifestyle, you can see why there could be issues with lower back pain! An inactive TVA will allow the transfer of energy to go through the joints and back, causing….PAIN….instead of that energy passing through the muscle! This is especially common with folks that have desk jobs, that sit for extended amount of times, or do not have much physical activity in there everyday life’s! TVA exercises are a must….and should be implemented, and the best part is you don’t need fancy equipment or a gym to help!
Not only will having a strong TVA help with lower back pain, it will actually help with flattening your stomach, and we all know with summer around the corner that’s what we want! Here’s the thing: everyone on the planet knows what you’re talking about when you say “abs” and the ever so sought after six pack! The rectus abdomimus, or as you may know it as “abs”…those are the vertical muscles that travel along the abdomen that grace every fitness magazine from here to the other side of the planet! Here is the issue with just working these and trying to attain that six pack the everyone is after:
- When working the rectus abdominous…. these muscles grow outward
- Fat on the outside stomach gets pushed out
- You look bulky and “fatter” than before cause these muscles are bigger
- Without low BF%, crunches will actually be more counterproductive for you
So, working the rectus abdominus (abs) with countless crunches will only make you look worse if you’re not losing fat! But, working the TVA will actually pull in and tighten your waistline, as these muscles grow inwards rather than outwards! You can usually tell someone that has a conditioned TVA rather than not! So, if you have a little bit of that winter fluff hanging around, throw in some of these exercises to tighten that stomach up:
For moms: https://youtu.be/GX3PVLFjheg
For athletes: https://youtu.be/2X97ZWux7L4
Back Pain: https://youtu.be/_EgIRJzRz-o
There ya go….the TVA….the muscle responsible for so much that you never knew you had!
Atrain
Ares Training and Performance Protocols 