Jefferson Curls - abs cramping

Hey guys,

Thanks to some very helpful posts here on the forums, I've decided to try doing Jefferson Curls to improve the mobility in my back and hamstrings. I'm hoping these will help particularly with Manna exercises.

I'm doing these by first tucking my chin and then slowly trying to curl each vertebrae one at a time on the way down, and then reversing it on the way up. I'm doing these very slowly and carefully in order to minimize the chance that I will hurt my back. 

What I've found is that my abdominals will often completely cramp up (very painful) since I'm trying to keep a very tight core to protect my back.

Has anybody else ever had this happen to them? Am I doing anything wrong?

thanks!

Mike

I'm not sure you're supposed to keep a tight core while curling your vertebrae. Usually you want to keep a tight core when you need to use your back as a lever to lift heavy weight so as to keep it relatively motionless and in neutral extension, for example in deadlifts.

This is a different kind of exercise as the back is supposed to curl. Use very light weight if you are worried, there's no need to start with an olympic bar like the athlete in the video does.

as a point of reference to someone who took the illustration seriously(or too seriously) and hasnt done it with one(an olympic bar i mean), i felt most of the effect on my back for sure. going all the way from my upper/middle back and it just follows you all the way down. it feels pretty awesome

Many thanks for your replies. I'm currently doing the Jefferson Curl with only body weight, although I may add the almighty broomstick soon.

Is it important for the hands to remain roughly shoulder-width apart? I.e. could the Jefferson Curl be done with a light kettlebell?

thanks!

babytrex said:

(...) doing the Jefferson Curl with only body weight, (...)

You probably won't be cramping that much with some load.

Yes, you can use a kettlebell!

(note also that a weight will help you get longer arms babyTrex! )