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Beginner’s Core Workout: 4-Week Plan for Back Pain Treatment

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back pain treatmentBack Pain Treatment: A bout of lower back pain can scare people out of normal activity. If you have recurring or chronic back pain, this could mean that your lifestyle has become sedentary. While it may seem sensible to avoid movement if it hurts, it’s important to understand 2 things: 1) with chronic pain, hurt doesn’t always mean harm, and 2) movement is imperative to back pain management and recovery.

One of the best forms of exercise for chronic back pain treatment is core strengthening. The muscles of the core, located in the stomach, pelvis, buttocks and lower back, should work together to stabilize the spine and maintain proper posture. Weakness, imbalance or tension in the core can result in back pain.

If you have a diagnosed spinal condition, you’ll need to work with a physical therapist to determine what exercises are safe for you to perform. For the vast majority with back pain, though, no spinal abnormality is present. This indicates the muscles and ligaments in the area as the most likely sources of pain.

If you lead a generally sedentary lifestyle and are not accustomed to doing core exercises, it is very possible that strengthening your core will either reduce or eliminate your back pain. While it’s important to overcome the fear of movement (kinesiophobia) associated with chronic pain, it’s just as important not to jump into a hardcore workout regimen unprepared. You’ll want to ease your way into core strengthening. The proposed 1 month core workout plan below can help you gradually get stronger without overuse.

Week 1

Your first week of core training will be gentle. Start with only a few minutes of core exercise a day, 3 days a week. The following are good for beginners.

Partial Crunches: In a partial crunch, you only lift your head and shoulders off the ground. This prevents overuse of the hip flexor muscles, a common occurrence with sit-ups and full crunches and a back pain cause in itself. Do 10 partial crunches.

Bridges: The bridge is a perfect complement to partial crunches; the latter exercise focuses on the front of the body while the former targets the back (although it does involve the deeper abdominal muscles as well). Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Raise your hips until a straight line is formed between your knees and your shoulders. Make sure your knees don’t move forward of the toe line. Do 10 bridges.

Superman: Lay on your stomach on a yoga mat or other slightly padded surface with your arms stretched out in front of you. Lift your arms, head, shoulders and legs off the ground several inches. Try to hold this for 10 seconds at first. The superman strengthens muscles throughout your back and gives your abdominal muscles a good stretch.

Week 2

Let’s add in a couple more exercises. Repeat your session from week 1, then add in the following:

Bird Dog: Get on all fours. Take your right arm and left leg off the floor and extend them. Hold for a couple seconds, then switch to the other arm and leg. Do this 5 times on each side. This exercise encourages strengthening and cooperation of muscles throughout the core.

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Plank: In the standard plank position, you support your body with your elbows, forearms and toes on the floor. For your first plank pose, it’s a good idea to modify this by having your knees on the ground instead of your toes. There should be a straight line from your head to your knees. Try to hold the plank for 15 seconds. The plank really works muscles throughout your whole body, but its emphasis is on the core.

Week 3

Repeat exercises from week 1, holding the superman for 20 seconds this time. Repeat week 2 exercises, but try the plank with your toes on the ground instead of your knees.

Week 4

Repeat week 3, but shoot for 30 seconds on both the superman and the plank. Increase the bird-dog exercise to 10 reps per side.

Now, let’s put it all together neatly:

Week 1:
Partial crunches (x10)
Bridges (x10)
Superman (10 seconds)

Week 2:
Partial crunches (x10)
Bridges (x10)
Superman (10 seconds)
Bird-dog (5x each side)
Modified plank: (15 seconds)

Week 3:
Partial crunches (x10)
Bridges (x10)
Superman (20 seconds)
Bird-dog (5x each side)
Regular plank (15 seconds)

Week 4:
Partial crunches (x10)
Bridges (x10)
Superman (30 seconds)
Bird-dog (10x each side)
Plank (30 seconds)

back pain treatmentThis back pain treatment plan will give you basic core strength and stability within 4 weeks. For some, this will be very helpful in reducing back pain. In the next post, found at advanced core workout, we’ll look at advanced variations of some of these exercises that will give you an even stronger core.


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