Back pain stinks. If you have some, you aren’t alone. Around 60% to 70% percent of people have it. Most people have it for one reason or another. It could be due to bones, muscles, or something else. Focusing on exercises that strengthen your core can really help with your back pain.
4 Ways to Strengthen Your Core
People always say that core strengthening exercises are sit ups. That’s just not the case. Sit ups can actually be the worse kind of exercise for people with back pain. Instead, you should try these.
1. Pelvic Tilt with Bracing
This exercise uses the deep core muscles in your pelvic floor and abdomen. It also moves your lumber spine through its natural range of motion.
You lie on a mat with your knees comfortably bent and feet flat on the floor. Put 2 fingertips at the top of your pelvic bones. This helps you pay attention to how your pelvis moves during the exercise.
Take a breath and breathe out hard. As you do, contract your pelvic floor and tighten the inner wall of your abdomen, like bracing for a punch. If you aren’t sure how to contract your pelvic floor, make the motion you do when you try to hold in urine.
Take a second to feel all these muscles. This is your deep core.
Take a breath and on the exhale, move the front of your pelvis towards your ribcage. Flatten your lower back a bit as you do this. On the next inhale, move your pelvis away from your ribcage. Create space between the floor and your back.
Do 5 to 10 repetitions and make sure to pay attention to your core muscles.
2. Swimmers
Working one side of the body and then the other helps strengthen the muscles near your spine. It does this without too much stress on the lumbar vertebrae.
You don’t have to go swimming to take advantage of the motions.
Lie on your stomach with your arms above your head. Keeping a neutral spine, raise your right arm and left leg a few inches at the same time. Then lower it and do the same with the other limbs. Think of how swimmers look while in the pool.
As you do this, try to make your spine longer as you reach forward with your arm and backwards with your leg. Do not rotate your hips and keep your toes pointed to the floor.
Do 20 reps, 10 on each side.
3. Bird Dog
This is similar to Swimmers but has more movement. Kneel on a mat on all fours, make sure your spine is in its neutral S curve. With this exercise, you work your deep core muscles like with the Pelvic Tilts. Slowly reach forward with your right arm and stretch your left leg out behind you. Slowly return them to the mat and repeat the process on the other side.
A special positive of this exercise is that it helps strengthen the muscles that help you balance.
Do 20 reps, 10 on each side.
4. Marching Bridge
This focuses more on the muscles in the buttocks. These are usually lax and weak from sitting all the time.
Lie on your back with knees bent 90 degrees and feet flat on the floor. Work the deep muscles in your core and move into the bridge position by lifting your butt off the floor. Make sure you keep the natural curve of your spine. Your butt muscles should be working to keep your body in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
Lift your left foot off the ground and straighten your left leg. Make a line all the way through your left heel. Bring in it back and then do it on the other side. Your hips need to stay square and not rotate.
Do 20 to 30 reps.
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