Toning and Strengthening Your Abs to Ease Ulcerative Colitis Abdominal Pain

One of the best self-care measures one can take to alleviate their ulcerative colitis symptoms is to exercise. Ideally, one should engage in low-key exercise such as yoga or tai chi, or even walking. Hardcore jogging or competitive sports (unless you swear by them and feel that they help you greatly) could potentially wreak some havoc on your body, either due to physical stress, or even the mental stress brought on by competition. Whatever you do to work out your middle, make sure to take it slow.

I mainly began working out my core muscles to work on this area to tone it; gas and bloating had made me look a few pounds heftier in this area, so I wanted to work on its appearance. In doing so, I have not only managed to tone it, but have also been able to strengthen my stomach and help my digestion. Even the frequency of my flare-ups have been reduced. The key is moderation. I do, at most, two nice sets, and the circulation to my stomach improves, my gas is alleviated, and I can feel my stomach going back to being in working order again. However, I suspect, that strenuous stomach exercises could cause discomfort and disrupt the flow of blood to this area. I'm no doctor, but I do have plenty of personal experience. And too much exercise causes my stomach to react violently.

Now, to illuminate what my regimen is. I don't do crunches. I don't believe in the six-pack. In fact, my Japanese doctor told me that modern people are so obsessed with having "perfect", flat stomachs, when ideally, the stomach should be slightly rounded. This ensures that the blood flow to this area is not constricted. She told me that this is in conjunction with optimal breathing. She also said that repeated abdominal exercises actually cause the insides of the colon to contract. So I don't go that route, I don't do 300 crunches a day as some exercise fanatics do. Instead, I breathe deeply for a minute or two, really get into my breathing, and then I twist my upper torso as I exhale completely. I focus on my spine being contracted. One thing I have learned: do not focus on your stomach as you do it. Doing so causes you to over-focus on that part. Instead, put your torque in your spine, and it will feel like you're wringing out whatever it is that your body wants to expel. I do slow twists for about a minute at a time. I try to do them throughout the day whenever I can. It's pretty rejuvenating each time I do it. Another exercise I like to do is to lie on my back, and to raise a knee to my belly, breathing out while I do it. Work on slow breathing, and this will feel quite natural to you. Ever since I've been doing this, my stomach has been less bloated. It also helps break up pent-up gas.