OH, THE PAIN!

As a coaches, we see the effects of chronic back back and it ain’t pretty!

And, if you are expriencing or have deal with back issues in the past,  you know just how debilitating this can be.

You are limited with what you can do and everyday, simple tasks become impossible to perform. There’s no worse feeling than having to tell your kids/grandkids you can’t play catch, you can’t pick them up or you can’t get on the ground to build that Lego set or Barbie dream castle.

You are sidelined from living your life and that is NO way to live. The good news? If you’re dealing with any level of chronic back pain, strength training is exactly what you need to alleviate the pain, gain back mobility and return to living a pain free, limitless life!

Intrigued? Read on my good friend!

Today’s blog is part of a 3-part series exploring the most common issues experienced with age: chronic pain in our knees, shoulders and back.

In each blog you are going to learn:

• Medical and lifestyle causes
• How to reduce your risks
• Best exercises to end to the pain!

Today we are diving into back pain so you can get back to living your life pain free!

WHAT CAUSES BACK PAIN?

There are many underlying factors when it comes to understanding back pain. Let’s start with medical causes:

• Arthritis: inflammation or degeneration of one or more joints- scary stuff!
• Muscle Strain: injury to a muscle or tendon possibly due to (repeatedly) lifting weights that are too heavy for your fitness level or a sudden, awkward movement. Ever coughed or sneezed and boom, there goes your back? Just me?
• Herniated Discs: cushion-like pads between our vertebrae move out of place, possibly due to trauma or age-related changes in our spine.
• Osteoporosis: loss of bone mass causing our bones to become weak and brittle
• Sciatica: pain radiating along the path of the sciatic nerve which extends from the lower back through the hips and down each leg
• Scoliosis: sideways curvature of the spine
• Spinal stenosis: narrowing of the spinal canal.

It’s important to note back pain is not limited to medically related causes. Several lifestyle factors contributing to that horrific pain you are feeling, including:

• Improperly lifting weights: Lifting weights is NOT bad for you but lifting weights that are too heavy for your fitness level or lifting weights incorrectly  can lead to injury.
• Improper twisting or overstretching: If you aren’t properly engaging the right muscles to move your body, this puts unnecessarily strain on your spine; leading to serious pain.
• Poor posture: Spending a large chunk of your day sitting at a desk, hunched over your keyboard or attached to your mobile device will take a serious toll on your  posture; which is directly linked to chronic back issues.
• Prolonged standing, driving or sitting: Commonly leads to back pain becasue you are NOT engaging the right muscles and instead, pulling / straining your back.

BENEFITS OF STRENGTH TRAINING

Whether your back pain is caused by a medical or non-medical issue, studies prove strength training can relieve pain when done correctly within the right conditions.

This is why our team of coaches here at Results Fitness have created a safe and effective space for you to properly strength train!

You get a personalized exercise program tailored to your fitness level and individual needs plus 1:1, hands on coaching so you always know exactly what to do and perform movements and exercises safely and properly.

Now, you may be thinking to youself: “But….should I really be lifitng weights if I have back pain?”

It may feel counterintuitive to add weight or even MOVE when your back gets cranky.

Your instincts may be telling you to take it easy and lay down, but here’s what you may not know:

Although rest and recovery are extremely important, staying immobile when experiencing back pain may end up increasing your pain over time and this can result in the deconditioning and instability in your back.

Who wants that?? 

Here’s how strength training benefits your spine health:

• Improves overall muscle strength by improving the function of your back and core muscles.
• Increases lean muscle mass allowing for a stronger more stable spine.
• Increases range of motion of your spine allowing for better mobility and reduced risk of injury.
• Decreases body fat and weight off your spinal column; reducing future risks of back issues.

 5 BEST EXERCISES FOR BACK PAIN

Ready to start feeling better, living pain free and getting back to what you enjoy doing?

Now that we’ve covered how strength training decreases and prevents pain, let’s get down to the specific exercises we use here at Results Fitness to prevent, manage and ease back pain.

It starts with good pelvic alignment: exercises that engage the muscle groups surrounding your pelvis that stabilize the spine.  These muscle groups are your hamstrings (back of legs), glutes (butt), hips, and abs.

By keeping these muscles strong and stable, you reduce the chance of injury and pain in your back.

Here are the 5 best exercises for these muscles and what we continually do in our warm-up’s and workouts here at RF:

1. Hamstring Curls: Hamstrings are the muscles in the back of your legs so it’s easy to understand why they become super tight and weak: prolonged sitting!

Because the hamstrings are attached to your pelvis, tightening of these muscles can cause extra pull and strain on our low back.

Hamstring curls allow us the opportunity to lengthen AND strengthen these pesky muscles decreasing the risk of pull/tilt of our pelvis; which can lead to low back pain/strain.

2. Glute Bridges: Glutes are the muscles in your butt and VERY important when it comes to supporting your low back, stabilizing your spine and strengthening your posture.

If your glutes become weak, other areas of your body will attempt to compensate for this weakness and this leads to low back pain.

By Incorporating glute bridges regularly into your strength training routine, you are targeting your glutes AND low back muscles; both of which are needed to maintain an upright posture.

3. Bird Dog: This exercise is great for relieving high pressure stress on your spine and discs by specifically targeting your lower back muscles, hips, glutes, and hamstrings!

This seemingly “simple” core exercise improves stability of your spine, strengthens your abs, encourages a neutral spine, promotes proper posture, increases range of motion, and decreases low back pain.

4. Superman: This exercise is a great beginner move for learning how to safely extend your spine. The superman is critical for strengthening your erector spinae muscles (the muscles that run the length of our spine).  These muscles play an important role in spinal stability and prevent unwanted movement in our lower backs.

For this reason, we incorporate the superman in the warmup portion of class as well as an active rest break between exercises to help engage your back muscles and prevent injury.

This simple exercise prepares your back muscles for more challenging, heavier exercises like the squat, deadlift and bench press.

5. Planks (side + front): In all its forms, planks help improve core strength and stability.

Your core consists of the muscles surrounding your whole spine, not just your abs. Sure, abs are definitely part of your core, but we often forget the surrounding side and back body muscles when we think about core strengthening.

Plank incorporates not just our ab muscles but also our arm and leg muscles forcing our bodies muscles to work together and in turn, increasing overall spinal strength and stability.

Classic sit ups are usually a go to for core strengthening but they can do more harm then good by putting excess pressure on your spine and discs. Instead, try holding a plank.

HOW TO GET STARTED

Now that you’re considering strength training to reduce and prevent back pain, here are a few do’s and don’ts for getting started today:

The Do’s:

• DO consult a qualified healthcare professional to provide an accurate diagnosis and determine if weight training is safe to perform with your back pain.
• DO seek guidance from a coach, trainer, or therapist to ensure you are performing all exercises with the correct technique to avoid further injury/pain. That’s exactly what we do as your coaches here at Results Fitness!
• DO use smaller weights to build your strength progressively.
• DO add in some active recovery such as walking around your weight training sessions to decrease stiffness.
• DO aim for 2-5 strength training sessions a week for 30 minutes or more.

The Do Not’s:

• DON’T incorporate exercises that involve extreme or abrupt movements increasing your chance for injury. Instead, focus on slow, controlled movements that build strength and stability.
• DON’T push through sharp pain! Some soreness is okay but sharp pain is NOT normal and you must stop the exercise immediately.

If you have questions or, need help getting started so you feel safe exercising, schedule your FREE strategy session with our team so that you can learn how to properly exercise to alleviate pain, gain back mobility and get back to the life you love!