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Backaches Are Painful - Back Exercises For People Who Strain Them
The Most
People with sore backs, may find it difficult to exercise and may
even be tempted not to exercise at all. However, back exercises, particularly
lower back exercises, can actually help prevent back pain from occurring.
Back pain exercises can also strengthen the muscles and help assist
in the recovery process. Exercising also contributes to overall health
and will help people reach and maintain a healthy weight. This will
help treat and prevent any back pain problems related to obesity.
Back Pain Exercise Program
A back pain exercise program should be designed to strengthen and
exercise the back, while preventing exercises that will cause the
person more back pain. Whether other exercises can be done will depend
on the person’s back problem and level of pain. A physiotherapist
or spine specialist will be able to design an exercises program that
provides the right type of exercises without causing harm. People
with a very low level of back pain may be able to design their own
exercise program. This may combine specific back exercises with other
exercises. However, a physiotherapist or spine specialist should be
seen if the back pain grows worse, particularly if exercising seems
to aggravate the problem.
Stretching Exercises
Back stretching exercises should stretch the soft tissue, muscles,
ligaments and tendons in the back and spine area. By stretching these
muscles, greater flexibility will be achieved and the back will be
able to move more without suffering from back pain. Stretching exercises
should always start slowly. The person should be able to feel the
stretch, without feeling a large amount of pain. People with chronic
pain or who have very limited movement in their back will need to
start with gentle exercises, gradually moving to further stretches
as their flexibility increases. It may take some time before this
can happen.
Hamstring stretching exercises are a good exercise for people with
lower back pain. Many people with lower back pain have tight hamstrings.
Hamstring stretching exercises are any exercises that lengthen the
hamstring muscle for approximately 40 seconds. They include touching
your toes and placing legs out straight.
Other good back stretching exercises include:
Lie on the floor and pull your knees to your chest.
Lie face down. Place arms out at the side, with elbows bent
90 degrees. Push up, raising your head and upper torso.
Lie face down, with hands in the small of the back, palms
facing upwards. Arch your back and try to raise your chest.
Strengthening Exercises
Back strengthening exercises are exercises that are designed to make
your back stronger. Abdominal crunches are a form of back strengthening
exercise that people can do at home. Wall slides are also good back
strengthening exercises. Stand against a wall and bend your knees,
so that your back slides down the wall.
McKenzie exercises and dynamic lumbar stabilization exercises are
two types of special exercises for back pain relief. A physiotherapist
usually shows the person how to perform the exercises correctly.
However, some books and videos show people how to do the exercises
at home.
McKenzie exercise program works on the premise that exercises that
extend the spine can reduce pain. They work on centralizing the
pain (moving the pain into a central location). Dynamic lumbar stabilization
starts off by finding the position of the spine in which the patient
feels most comfortable. The back muscles are then exercises in order
to help the spine stay in this position.
