If you do a lot of heavy lifting, or you've got a history of back injuries, doing exercises to help strengthen and stabilize your back may be the key to preventing further injury. Similarly, if you participate in a sport, for example, gymnastics or rock climbing that involves a lot of abdominal strength, your abs may be much stronger than your back muscles. Having one set of muscles, your abs, and its opposing group, your back muscles, differ dramatically in strength is a sure way to throw your whole body out of alignment. Stabilizing your back involves both stretching and strengthening exercises.
Stretching Exercises
Stretching exercises help you maintain flexibility, and are as important as strengthening exercises for overall back health. Some stretches you can perform include the hamstring stretch, in which you lay on your back and, keeping it straight, pull one leg back towards your head as far as it will go. You can also try lying on your back and pulling both of your knees in towards your chest; this stretches your gluteus muscles and hamstrings. It's important to stretch before a workout so that you are properly warmed up before attempting more strenuous strengthening exercises.
Superman Pose
One exercise you can do to strengthen your back is the superman pose. To perform this, lie on the floor, on your stomach, with your arms extended in front of you. Now, lift your arms, head and neck, and legs off the ground. Hold them there for as long as you can. You should feel the muscles in your lower back working hard to keep you in this position. If you can hold this for 20 to 30 seconds, you're doing well. Try to repeat it 2 or 3 times.
Pelvic Lift
To perform this exercise, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Next, lift your pelvis off of the ground, as high as it will go, and hold for 5 seconds. Try to keep the line between your shoulders and knees straight while you do this exercise, so that you're not arching your back or letting it sag. Repeat up to 5 times.
Arm and Leg Lift
To perform this exercise, get down on the ground on all fours. Next, extend an arm out in front of you, parallel to the floor. Extend the opposite leg out behind you, parallel to the floor. Try to hold this position for at least 5 seconds before returning to the starting position and switching to the other arm and leg.
References
- MedlinePlus: Back Exercises
- "Adams & Victor's Principles of Neurology"; Allan H. Ropper, Martin A. Samuels; 2009
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