When I first realized I had a hernia, I started doing certain exercises to help control it. Basically it was an ab workout consisting of a couple different exercises. I wasn’t sure if what I was doing was helping or not, so I decided that I would stop doing everything, and get a clean starting point for trying to cure my hernia.

I was still running, surfing, paddling my prone paddle board, and stretching, but nothing directly targeted at my abs. Once I stopped the ab workout, I was actually really surprised at how quickly my hernia was affecting me a lot more. Six months ago I was at a point where I could wake up, eat breakfast, and go for a couple hours as long as I wasn’t lifting anything, then I would start feeling the pressure where my hernia is. At that point I knew it was time to put on the hernia belt.

It’s been about 5 months since I stopped the ab exercises, and now as soon as I get up out of bed I feel the pressure and I need to put on the hernia belt. Even if I’m just sitting at my desk working, I can feel the pressure and it will start to bulge out. It’s very annoying! It doesn’t really hurt, it’s just uncomfortable. Now I know for sure that certain exercises will definitely have an affect on how I can manage the hernia.

Now that I have gone this long without doing anything for my abs and have a baseline of how bad the hernia is, I am going to start adding in some exercises to target the area. My idea is this: If the muscles are separating in the inguinal canal allowing the tissue to protrude through, then I am going to try and target the muscle where the separation is and build it up. I’ve read that it is not possible to target this inguinal ligament directly, but I know I can do exercises to build muscle around it so that the tissue doesn’t protrude through. I am going to start with this workout designed for Taylor Knox, the pro surfer who had a really bad car accident when he was younger that almost left him paralyzed.

I think this is a great all around core workout which will not only help strengthen the whole area that the hernia is affecting, but will also help with my surfing. It’s available on amazon if you want to check it out. I’m going add in a few extra exercises such as the ab vacuum. I will also add in a leg lift where I’ll lay flat on my back with my feet shoulder width apart, and lift one leg at a time up and towards the midline of my body, which should target the inguinal area pretty good. I’ll do two sets of twenty five with each leg.

I am also going to start working out with weights a few days a week. I’m not trying to get huge, but I just want to keep my strength up. I really don’t like working out with weights, but I have been starting to feel weak lately doing normal things. So, I will dedicate some of my time to strength training. I’m going to start with basic exercises like, bench, squat, leg extensions, shoulder press, lat pull downs, tricep extensions, and curls. Two sets of each to muscle failure. It should be a quick workout which will only take me 20 minutes or so.

I will also continue paddling a few days a week to keep in shape for surfing. It’s summer time now. We don’t get waves here usually, so I have to paddle to stay in surfing shape. I have a 16’8″ Bark Prone paddle board that I use that is like the one picture below. I usually paddle about 4-5 miles. You switch between paddling on your stomach to paddling on your knees. When on your knees it is a great ab workout.

exercises for herniahernia exercises

 

Exercises I will do:

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

 Off Strength Training Paddle: 4-5 Miles Taylor Knox Core Workout Paddle: 4-5 Miles Taylor Knox Core Workout Strength Training

I will do this for three months and see if I notice a difference in how my hernia feels. On top of this, I’m going to where the hernia belt as soon as I wake up in the morning. This way the hernia does not have a chance to bulge out. I’ll keep you updated on my progress!