lower back exercises

s4ch117

s4ch117

s4ch117

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18 Oct 2002
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London
I've been having a lot of lower back troubles recently which lead the doctor to send me to physio. At physio i learnt about stetches and things to do when it starts hurting. But i want to strengthen my lower back region to make the pains less frequent (been told its a good idea). Now what exercises would you recommend to strengthen that region? The physio told me to try my hand at pilates.
 
Lower back pain can be tricky, I had a wicked spell of it a few years ago.
I strengthened it with deadlifts and hyperextensions.

Slow and steady is the key, there's a lot of good exercises out there but without exact form (really really pay attention to form or you'll pay a painful price) they'll hinder rather than help.

You could as your physio for suggestions other than pilates as they will have a better idea of what your back is ready for.
 
Your physio should have given you exercises to do not just stretches.

However, purely in terms of exercises, deadlifts, good mornings, reverse situps (hyper extensions), any form of bad work, and any form of big compound lift including squats will hit your lower back.
 
I did the following:

On all fours, sit back so you are sitting on the back of your feet (toes supporting you), then try and walk your arms / fingers as far forward as possible. (Good for strecthing)

Lying face down, put arms at your side, now lift as much of your head / body off the ground as possible and hold for 5-10secs. Repeat as much as you can take. Arms at your side should help support you.

Hope you get better, physio really should have given you some exercises to do.....
 
Definately some light good morning and deadlifts. Maybe some glute ham raises? Back doesnt do a lot but could help with mobility?
 
not being nosy but the type of work you do can really effect your body are you in IT by chance (sitting down a lot of the time per day?)

My physio told me you need to sit well thats the most important thing I got some seating wedges like this:

http://www.physio-med.com/modules/shop/view.asp?Prodcode=401&catid=9&rangeid=157

and sitting wedges that can work your back whilst you sit

http://www.physiomedhomecare.com/modules/shop/view.asp?Prodcode=400340-&catid=1&rangeid=2

I have purchased both from this site and it is helping me at work...

Obviously work closely with physio I was given some excersises even to align the back properly etc and he recommended all forms of stretching after a nice hot bath to loosen the back...
 
I'm not speaking as an expert; just someone who has had various bouts of lower back pain and many trips to physiotherapists in the past. As freefaller has already commented, i am surprised the physio didn't give you exercises to do that will strengthen your lower back in the long term. Depending on how strong your back is at the moment, you may want to seek physio/GP advice as to whether it's a good idea to do weights right now. There are quite a few simple strengthening exercises you can do if it's still not very strong; a lot involve strengthening core muscles and will help take the strain off the lower back.
 
Mikoyan said:
not being nosy but the type of work you do can really effect your body are you in IT by chance (sitting down a lot of the time per day?)

My physio told me you need to sit well thats the most important thing I got some seating wedges like this:

http://www.physio-med.com/modules/shop/view.asp?Prodcode=401&catid=9&rangeid=157

and sitting wedges that can work your back whilst you sit

http://www.physiomedhomecare.com/modules/shop/view.asp?Prodcode=400340-&catid=1&rangeid=2

I have purchased both from this site and it is helping me at work...

Obviously work closely with physio I was given some excersises even to align the back properly etc and he recommended all forms of stretching after a nice hot bath to loosen the back...
Click to expand...

I work in finance so sitting infront of pc monitoring trading away for 11 hrs a day. Will look into the link an probably purchase something before the weekend is over.


Freefaller said:
Your physio should have given you exercises to do not just stretches.

However, purely in terms of exercises, deadlifts, good mornings, reverse situps (hyper extensions), any form of bad work, and any form of big compound lift including squats will hit your lower back.
Click to expand...


Going to the gym tomorrow to try out the exercises that you have suggested. Just out of interest is there any way that you can do hyper extensions at home? i dont have the correct bench at home for it so cant do them unless i am at the gym.


Showboat said:
I did the following:

On all fours, sit back so you are sitting on the back of your feet (toes supporting you), then try and walk your arms / fingers as far forward as possible. (Good for strecthing)

Lying face down, put arms at your side, now lift as much of your head / body off the ground as possible and hold for 5-10secs. Repeat as much as you can take. Arms at your side should help support you.

Hope you get better, physio really should have given you some exercises to do.....
Click to expand...


Been told to do these ecercises from the physio and are really useful.


reiyushin said:
Yea, a lot of lower back trouble can come from tight hamstrings, that sound like you?
Click to expand...

Hamstrings get a little tight after football but nothing out of the ordinary.
 
$loth said:
I thought they were done on an inclined bench?
Click to expand...

You mean on a declined bench? I guess incline facing the wrong way is the same. They can be done like this. Though they can also be done on the floor. You can increase the difficulty by placing your hands on your head and then out infront of you as you progress.
 
I get a lot of lower back pain which is in part due to my hamstrings. I injured them when out running, although I didn't realise it at the time. The tendons around the "sit bones" are often sore and it hurts to sit down for prolonged periods of time, some times there is pain around the ball joint.

I've stopped running but I've had it for around 5 weeks now and it's still not gone. Its a lot better than it was but its still a total pain! Especially as I work sat in front of a computer all day, used to be in agony when I got home from work when it first started. It doesn't hurt when stood up, but it comes through as a dull ache after sat down for an hour or so.

Anyone got any advice for me?
 
BennyC said:
You mean on a declined bench? I guess incline facing the wrong way is the same. They can be done like this. Though they can also be done on the floor. You can increase the difficulty by placing your hands on your head and then out infront of you as you progress.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing that up :)
 
BennyC said:
You mean on a declined bench? I guess incline facing the wrong way is the same. They can be done like this. Though they can also be done on the floor. You can increase the difficulty by placing your hands on your head and then out infront of you as you progress.
Click to expand...

Indeedies. As a side note; muscle fibre recruitment and strength of contraction increases significantly when passing 0 degrees, so using something like a swissball or bosu ball for added stability, and to increase the rom past 0 degrees would be awesome.

I don't recommend good mornings, at all ever.

If you're getting back problems it's likely that you've got a postural dysfunction which needs a proffessional to examine and prescribe for. If you're lordotic then working the spinae erectors even more will just worsen the problem.

BennyC said:
See your GP and get reffered to a specialist.
Click to expand...

Best piece of advice in thread.

Judging your job description, the liklihood is you have shortened hip flexors and hamstrings and possibly glutes. So before you doing anything else, research stretches for these and see if the pain subsides :)

Back pain isn't something to shrug off, and doing deadlifts when you've got it is just asking for trouble.

Hope this helps bud :)
Ant :cool:
 
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