Say Goodbye to Lower Back Pain | Diet and Exercise | Real Life Fitness | PhitZone

Bye-bye back pain!

Cure back pain with a strong core.

Lower back pain started for me on the football field my Junior year. That was from an actual back injury though.

Disclaimer! Before attempting the following – If you experience  back pain, talk to your doctor. It may be something serious.

In more recent years, however, I started feeling it more. The difference was that this was not from an injury. This was just that “getting old” feeling.

From working in the yard to playing golf, your everyday life is affected by your lower back.

But wait, does it have to be that way?

Heck no!

There are two things that have always made my back feel better.

The first was stretching. I learned this from that football injury. Stretching makes me feel all loosey-goosey. That always feels good.

The second was something that I didn’t stumble on until much later in life.

While I worked out pretty much constantly most of my life, my core was never something that I worked on.

We’re not talking about exercising for six-pack abs. This is just plain and simple core work.

“[A] strong core is essential to deal with all the twisting and turning as well as endurance the lower back needs to deal with overuse injuries caused by sports”, said Chris of Zen to Fitness

The core area consists of the abdominal area, and lower back. That’s where all of your stability comes from. It’s the base, or foundation for everything that you do.

What to do

Below are a few exercises that you can perform that will help to strengthen your core. If you experience lower back pain, this could be the cure.

• Plank – A simple exercise that will work the core as a whole. Simply assume a push-up position on your elbows. Hold for thirty seconds. Rest thirty seconds. Repeat for three sets.
• Side Plank – This one is very easy to transition into from the standard plank. Just rotate to one side from the push-up position. Your body and legs should be straight, with one arm on the ground. After thirty seconds, switch to the other side.
• Bridge – Another exercise that works well. Lay flat on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and arms to your side. Lift your butt up, making your stomach even with your thighs. You can either hold this for thirty seconds, like the planks, or you can do the lift ten – fifteen times to complete one set. Rest thirty seconds, and repeat for three sets.
• Leg Lifts – Staying on your back, extending your legs straight, lift them to be perpendicular to the ground. Keeping your legs straight, lower them until they are 4-6 inches off of the ground. Again, you have the choice of holding this position for thirty seconds, or repeating the lift 10 – 15 reps.
• Superman – Lying flat on your stomach, stretch your arms in front of your head. Keeping your knees locked, lift up your legs and upper body off of the ground, and hold. Stay like this for thirty seconds. Rest and repeat.

I like to perform one of these exercises each day. This way my core is always getting hit, but never being the focus of my workout.

A word of warning

In the last couple of years there has been a lot of bad press for sit-ups, and even more recently, crunches.

My personal thoughts are that when performed correctly, these are excellent exercises. With poor form though, these can do more harm to your back. Proceed with these with caution.

There we have it; a sure fire way to stop most back pain by using some very simple bodyweight exercises. Follow these, and kiss your back pain goodbye!

Photo: Fernando Seiji Imay

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