Keeping a Healthy Lower Back

The lower back is every bit a part of our bodies. Hence, the advice to exercise regularly should also apply to this part. If you aren’t in the habit of including your back in your exercise sessions, it’s about time you found out about lower back exercises.

Why You Need Them

The lower back offers valuable support to the upper structures of the body. It therefore follows that a weak lower back may result in injury and low endurance. This may account for lower back pain. The best way to prevent this would be through lower back exercises to strengthen and build the back muscles.

In many cases, individuals may already have lower back pain before they realize that they have weak, undeveloped lower back muscles. In these cases, a back medical specialist may specifically recommend lower back exercises as part of a treatment program.

Before you engage in lower back exercises, you have to make sure that you have your doctor’s approval. This is especially if you already have a lower back pain condition. Always remember too to perform warm up exercises before you perform the exercises for you back. Otherwise, you might injure your lower back more.

Common Exercises

If you have a lower back pain condition, there might be a special set of lower back exercises recommended for you. If however, you merely wish to exercise your back to strengthen it and to prevent injury, you may use any of the following common exercises:

• Ball Extensions- Place your abdomen over an exercise ball and put your hands and toes flat on the floor. Slowly raise the arm and leg on one side and maintain for 15 seconds. Alternate sides.

• Leg Curls- Lie flat on your face. Rest the back of your hands one over the other on your lower back. Curl your legs up in a perpendicular position to the mat. Repeat the curls.

• Leg Raise- Lie flat on your back and raise your legs until they are perpendicular to the mat. Lower your legs but hold them a few inches off the ground. Make three to five repetitions and take a few seconds break before the next repetition.

• Knee Stretches- Lie flat on your back with knees fully bent. Grab one knee and pull over to your shoulder. Hold for a few seconds and return to starting position. Alternate knees.

• Hip Twist- Lie flat on your back with your knees bent together on your chest and arms spread flat to the sides. Move both knees to the side close to the mat. Hold the position for a few minutes before returning to starting position. Twist next to the other side.

These are only some of the most basic lower back exercises that you can try at home. If you are a beginner, you should start with these exercises first to ensure that muscles don’t get shocked. Remember too to begin your exercises slowly. Otherwise you could be doing too much work on one session and you may end up with an injured back rather than a strengthened one.