Low back pain? Stay active, but cautious. Consult a Certified Fitness Instructor and/or a physiotherapist to design your back-strengthening exercise program.
Many common exercises greatly stress the lower back. Avoid, minimize or modify them while your back heals.
Hyperextending the spine (bending too far backward) puts unnecessary stress on the low back. Maintain a pelvic tuck when doing standing exercises. Keep your knees slightly bent to minimize low-back stress.
When doing abdominal exercises, always keep legs bent at the knees and concentrate on pushing your lower back into the floor. When you arch your back, the stress falls off the abdominal muscles and onto your back.
Waist-twisting exercises, done incorrectly, also aggravate the low back. Done correctly, twists involve very short ranges of motion: not a full turning at the waist. However, even short-range twists aren’t recommended for some.
Seated exercises combined with lifting a weight over the head will compress the spine and may aggravate a low back problem. Stand up when pressing a weight overhead. This way the legs bear some of the pressure otherwise condensed in the spine. You can also stand with your lower back pressed against a wall, to avoid over-arching.
When doing the bench press or a push-up (chest exercises), be aware of keeping a straight back. Rest your feet on the bench while doing a bench press. This avoids over-arching the low back. And doing push-ups off the knees instead of the toes may also help maintain a straight back.
Until your back is stronger, avoid or modify these common back exercises: the bent-over barbell row, the T-bar row, the good-morning exercise, the deadlift and the back extension.
Poor technique in the seated row exercise also puts considerable stress on the low back. Avoid leaning too far forward or backward when doing this exercise. Maintain an upright posture (knees relaxed) and feel the muscles of the upper back doing the pulling.
The squat is a lower body exercise that may irritate a back problem, especially if done improperly. It can be modified, however, to lessen the stress on the lower back.
Brisk walking, instead of jogging, minimizes stress on the lower back. Use flat terrain. On the treadmill, too: inclines and declines put more stress on the lower back. When step-training or using a stair machine, maintain erect posture – avoid stooping over.
Always stretch after exercising. Flexible muscles resist injury. Stretch your lower back and the backs of your thighs. Tight hamstrings contribute to low back problems.
Regular, moderate activity is the best way to avoid or recuperate from injury. Get moving – the right way!
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Eve Lees has been active in the health & fitness industry since 1979. Currently, she is a Freelance Health Writer for several publication and speaks to business and private groups on various health topics.