Post-Op Low Impact Core Strengthening

ChrysalisCove

I had a micro-discectomy surgery on a large, chronic herniation of my lumbar spine about 6mo ago. Now that my body has had adequate healing time, I would like to work on strengthening my (very weak) core to prevent future injury. I was instructed by my neurologist to go slow & avoid high-impact.

Currently I do planks, elevated push-ups & modified v-seats. I am not strong enough to do L-seats on the ground, but may try using equipment at the gym. Occasionally I do crunches & mountain climbers, but they are a strain on my back. I was instructed to avoid full sit-ups altogether. Does anyone have additional suggestions of low-impact abdominal, oblique or low back strengthening exercises, just to mix things up?

RobsGirl_lds

Honestly I would suggest also strengthening your butt. Start with kick backs and body weight Romanian and single leg dead lifts. Body weight squats and lunges will also work your core.

ChrysalisCove

Honestly I would suggest also strengthening your butt. Start with kick backs and body weight Romanian and single leg dead lifts. Body weight squats and lunges will also work your core.

Thanks for the suggestions! I do body weight squats already, & lunges (occasionally, begrudgingly - lol) but have yet to try the others!

RobsGirl_lds

Honestly I would suggest also strengthening your butt. Start with kick backs and body weight Romanian and single leg dead lifts. Body weight squats and lunges will also work your core.

Thanks for the suggestions! I do body weight squats already, & lunges (occasionally, begrudgingly - lol) but have yet to try the others!

I truly hate lunges! Balance issues, but it is getting better.

Side note I hurt 2 disks in my back and have found that working my butt has reduced the frequency of shooting pain I have had to live with for years.

Azdak

Some of these may be hard to translate into text, but here are some exercises.

Single leg squats with reach: choose a target that is 12-14" high (bench in gym is fine) ; do a single leg squat; the back will incline, but should be kept straight (ex:door on a hinge). Keeping the back in position, reach out toward the target as you squat. It's not necessary to actually touch the bench-- you want extend the arms, but not bend farther forward.
After doing 2-3 sets of 10 forward, stand with the target in front of one shoulder and reach to the side.

Push-ups are good-- use the full plank position, not the knee push ups.

Front raise: grab a weight plate with both hands on the side of the plate (like a steering wheel). Standing in a "ready" stance, kept the arms straight and lift the plate to shoulder height. It's important to keep the shoulders down, abs tight and pelvis neutral as you lift the weight.

Take 2 dumbbells and do an arm curl; in a continuous motion, flip the dumbbells so that your palms are facing out and do a shoulder press. Reverse the movement coming down.

Straight arm pull down. You should be able to find videos to show this. Again keep the shoulders down abs tight, pelvis neutral and arms straight.

Wide grip lat pull down-- self explanatory.

Step up--step up on a 10–12" step; balance at the top on one leg and come down. Keep the "stepping" foot on the step when stepping down to start the next step. Try to push off as little as possible with the bottom foot-- try to make the leg/foot on the step do as much work as possible. You can hold weights in each hand. Pay close attention to posture-- as to step up try to move your torso from shoulders to hips as a single unit.

Do 3 sets of 10 of all of these and you will really work on strengthening and stabilizing your spine. This will set you up for doing more advanced lifting in the future. Right now crunches and twists will not be as useful. I would try these for awhile before doing squats and lunges. I would work on some split squats before doing lunges. That's just my experience.