This week Flex fam lets talk about lower back pain! Now, we are sure that many of you spend a large portion of your day sitting. Whether that be sitting at your desk at work or lounging around watching tv at home, we here at Flex Fitness want to help you build a stronger back. The tips we have shared below can help to alleviate and relive the pain you feel in your lower back, lets discuss!
Side Effects from Sitting
Today, many occupations now require us to sit longer and move less. Due to this, our back pain and other musculoskeletal pain seems to be a reoccurring problem. Much research has been done on this and we have taken it upon ourselves to share some of these points with you. Sitting for long periods can create,
- Tight hip flexors
- Low back muscle tightness
- Inactive core
- Headaches
- Shoulder pain
- Back pain aches and stiffness
- Muscle spasms
- Soreness
- Poor blood circulation
- Poor posture
And more!
Now, you might ask, “what can I do to build a stronger back?” (which in turn can help reduce your back pain!)
Let us help you!
There are many important exercises in building a more strong and powerful physique. These exercises can aid in your lower back pain when performed correctly…
Kettle-bell Swings
Now, you might be thinking out of all the exercises we could have chosen we decided to firstly, chose kettle-bell swings. When it comes to the movement of this exercise, we want you to think about the extension part of the exercise. The extension part of the exercise allows your lumbar para-spinals to elongate and shorten throughout the kettle-bell motion. Furthermore, the main focus of this exercise is to contract until your spine is in a neutral position. Do not focus on the hyper part of the extension, just hold the contraction and return.
Dead-lifts
The dead-lift in our opinion, is definitely a staple in any workout routine. Dead-lifts can improve your functional strength, decrease injury and decrease your lower back pain! How, you might ask? Well, to get more technical, dead-lifting activates your para-spinal muscles, which run down on both sides of your spine. Many studies have been done to show that, dead-lifting when executed correctly will strengthen your entire back. Execution of this exercise is key. Many gym go-ers use far too much of their low back when lifting the weight during the performance of this exercise. However, the dead-lift requires you to use your hips and glutes to drive the movement. How do you know if you are performing the dead-lift correctly? Here are a few pointers…
- Activate your lats
- Barbell should be close to you
- Bend your knees
- Push your feet into the ground as you pull up
- Do not overextend
- Use your core
Supermans
Lastly, our favorite overlooked back aiding exercise! Supermans! This is an all-around posterior chain strength building exercise. Supermans primarily activate and help strengthen the lower back and glutes. This exercise is a great beginner exercise to help engage and awaken the muscles with low intensity.
Final Point
Coincidentally, during the writing of this blog a co-worker had mentioned that in the newest release of Vogue magazine she had read a headline that stated,
“sitting is the new smoking.”
Lower back pain is only one issue that we are covering in this blog. However, due to the way we work and live our lives today (always sitting and not moving), many other issues are occurring for example,
- Obesity
- Neck pain
- Sciatic
- Cancer
- Cardiovascular disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Shorter lifespan
And more.
In addition, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, “back pain is one of the American’s most common health problems, with 1 out of 4 people experiencing back pain.” These are troubling statements and statistics made… Although, it is the reality in which we currently live in.
We hope this blog not only helped you but made you think more into your daily physical activity. Are you finding that you sit for too long throughout your day?
We here at Flex Fitness encourage you to get up more and move. Physical activity is at the utmost importance for your heath. Need help? Not sure how to perform the movements mentioned above. Give us a call and one of our certified personal trainers will help you!
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