Exercises for the abs, shoulders, back and neck are all recommended post-hysterectomy. A hysterectomy, like any major surgery, is going to have a significant recovery period. All this resting, although necessary, is going to cause your core muscles to become weak because their job is stabilizing your body, not something required when are lying down a lot. As soon as your doctor gives you permission, begin ab exercises to recover your abdominal strength and improve posture.
Head Sit-Up
A head sit-up is a strange name, and somewhat misleading. Your head doesn't sit up so much as bend forward. Bringing your neck forward off the floor engages your ab muscles for stabilizing your pelvis and lower back. This exercise will prepare you for more challenging exercises such as the ab ball crunch. To perform a head sit-up, lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor as if you were going to do a sit-up. Cross your arms with your palms on your belly. Use your hands to pull your abdominal muscles together. Then, tilt your chin toward your chest and raise your head off the floor. Hold the head up for three to five seconds and then return it to the floor.
Pelvic Tilting
Pelvic tilting is a common, beginner-level abdominal exercise. The pelvis can be titled forward or backward when you stand, sit or lie down and doing so uses muscles in your abs and back. Tilt your pelvic up in the front and you engage your ab muscles. To perform this exercise, lie on your back with one hand under your lower back. Bend your knees and put your feet on the floor. Place your other hand below your belly button. Then, tilt your pelvis up to flatten your lower back and work your abs. Hold for five seconds, feeling the pressure on your hand from your lower back flattening. Release and arch your back gently off the floor.
Ab Ball Crunches
Ab ball crunches train all of your abdominal muscles, including the obliques, rectus abdominus and transverse abdominus. These muscles lie in order from deepest to superficial beginning with the transverse abdominus, internal and external obliques, and the rectus abdominus. To perform this ab-strengthening exercise, lie on an inflated exercise ball with your feet on the floor. Bend your knees to align them with your ankles. Rest your back on the ball. Place your palms behind your head with your elbows bent. Then, curl your upper back and neck forward lift your head and shoulders away from the ball. Lie back until your torso is parallel to the floor to complete one rep.
Member Comments