BENGALURU: Most people do not workout or do not restart on their fitness journey due to back issues. The truth is back pain starts due to a weak core, sitting long hours, or not working on strengthening the muscles that protect the spine. Our bodies have been designed to hinge and there are people who are scared to get into that position as it might worsen the pain. This is due to lack of spine hygiene. When is the spine loaded? The answer is, almost always, especially the lumbar region.
If you are sitting long hours, driving long distances, lifting weights, walking or playing a sport, to name a few, your lower spine ends up taking a lot of load-supporting activities demanded by general life and sport. And because the spine is doing so much work, it goes through the general process of wear and tear resulting in never-ending pain. How can you prevent it? The key is to exercise, and often! There are exercises that can help create a protective sheath around your spine if done regularly and can do wonders for your spine health. Here are a bunch of them. Give it a try and do it regularly and notice the change in your spine.
WALK
Our lumbar spine takes all the load while we are seated and due to the work profile we end up spending a lot of time in that position. It’s generally a good practice to walk 3 minutes for every 30 minutes of being seated. If you can discipline yourself to do that, it will help in giving recovery time to the spine and have positive effects on metabolic factors aiding more fat loss
HIP HINGES
Bend at the hips (without rounding the spine)
Soften your knee by bending it slightly
Keep your torso slightly above parallel to the floor and a hip joint angle closer to 90 degrees
Maintain a neutral spine (natural curvature maintained)
If this is practised consistently, it can potentially prevent lower back injuries and pain. Mostly back pain does not happen due to one bad lift or so, it’s a result of years of bad posture while sitting or lifting anything off the ground no matter how heavy or light.
However, if you are already facing lower back pain, I strongly suggest you meet a doctor for a detailed examination and solutions on how to cope with it.
DEADBUG
(4-5 reps on each side * 20-30 sec. hold on each rep)
Lie down on your back, arms on the side
Flex your knees and bring them to 90 degrees
Stiffen the ab muscles, try to build contact between the lumbar spine and the floor
Extend one leg and the opposite arm at the same time, hold and alternate with the other side for prescribed rep count
BIRD DOG
(4-5 reps on each side * 20-30 sec. hold on each rep)
Get down on all 4’s (knees on the ground)
Stiffen the ab region and outstretch the opposite arm and leg reaching away from the body
Hold for 10 seconds, bring the elbow closer the knee and outstretch again
SIDE PLANK
(30sec per side) Lie down on one side supported by the elbow, hip and outer leg
Press the hips up off the ground
Hold and switch after 30 seconds