Backside puts strain on lower back when doing decline bench situps.

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I have a Weider flat bench that folds down to do either decline presses or situps. Now I don't know if it's just a cheap bench but when I do situps and/or crunches I feel lots of strain on my lower back. I am not sure if its the bench or if it is just me having a big butt and it putting tension on my lower back. To get a picture of it my lower back is elevated while layed out on the decline bench because my glutes are elevating it. It creates like a sort of sideways triangle gap between my lower back and the bench. Does anyone else encounter this issue? I try to do my situps anyway but deal with the back pain after. I do feel sore after in my abs though so I know Im hitting them. I could revert to the regular flat situps but the decline ones seem to work more.

 

[surreal]

Lordosis.

Have a similar problem. Its all in posture though. If you stand up straight and relax you'll probably notice your gut goes forward a little and your back curves in as your upper body naturally leans back.

Push your upper body up and forwrard just a little. Tighten your hips and suck your gut in. Thats the way you should be standing. It removes the curviture of the lower spine and your muscles balance the pressure through-out your back.

I also find conventional crunches hard because when you tighten your abs and try to move like that my spine also naturally curves in for leverage.

Try grabbing a chair and resting your feet on it in the crunch position. With your legs elevated your hamstrings should be able to pull on your lower back and you should find it difficult to even try to arch your back in while in the up position.

Edit: in the case of the decline bench crunches you'd need to find another way to elevate your legs. If you can reach a mounted barbell or just hold your legs in an elevated position.

The whole point is to take your legs and hamstrings out of the equation when crunching. I do this a lot toward the end of my crunches when doing a large set. My hams and quads tense, and I'm using those to pull on my back as I go up.