Abdominal Muscles

hey all, so im hoping to get some help with this issue of mine.

I went to a physio a little while back for my lower back pain, and also because my lower stomach protrudes out a lot, especially when ive just eaten. im a skinny guy and it protrudes out a fair bit and i look pregnant.

So the physio did all the ultrasound stuff with me and got me doing exercises for the transverse abdominis.

Now ive been doing some of these exercises, and my lower back is now gone, i dont get it anymore at work or anywhere. So i figure i must have been working the muscle and doing it right for the pain to go away.

But my lower stomach bulge that i get is still there and i really want to get rid of it because its very unnatural.

So im wondering, maybe im doing it right but its just gonna take a really long time? Maybe theres nothing i can do because its stretched or something? I recently lost a lot of weight and thats how i noticed this problem because my gut never went away.

Do any other abdominal muscles play any role in holding my stomach in?

Any help would be appreciated.

Do you have quite an arch in the lower back? For example, if you lie on your back on the floor and bend your legs so that your feet are apart but flat on the ground with you knees pointing towards the ceiling, does your low back lie flat on the floor or does is your back still arched? If so the common reason for this is: tight low back extensor muscles and weak lower abdominal muscles. The weak lower abdominal muscles are not strengthened by the deep muscle training you have just been doing. The weak muscles cause your stomach to stick out and the tight low back muscles also reinforce this posture.

If I am right (and I may not be) and this is the case with you, there is a good strengthening program of the lower abdominals you can do and if you persist in time you can correct the postural fault. But you really have to tone up the muscles so flatten your aabdomen and so they provide some adequate resistance to the low back extensors.

The exercise is not that complicated but it is quite precise. Also, as you have just had an episode of low back pain I would seek some professional advice rather than just go ahead and do it. It is also a bit hard to describe over the Internet. Ask if your physio does movement impairment syndrome diagnosis and management (Shirley sahrmann is the method author). it is a different approach to what you underwent which is Queensland university approach. or email the Queenland APA and ask who in your area practices this way.