Undo the damage of too much sitting with this trio of exercises designed to reverse lower-back pain and muscular atrophy.
Lower back pain is an issue very common among people who live a largely sedentary lifestyle. If you’re in an office chair which isn’t conducive to good posture, I recommend you take the bellow suggestions seriously.
There are a few exercises you can do to mitigate this. Most of them have to do with strengthening the lower back, core and “posterior chain” of muscles, including the hamstrings and glutes. Combined with regular stretching exercises, you should begin to see an improvement to both your pain and your physique in record time.
- Deadlifts
When it comes to activating your lower back, legs and glutes, deadlifts are the king of exercises. Lifting something heavy off the ground with proper form, is one of the most fundamental and helpful exercises you can do.
Deadlifts can also help banish back pain, according to one study published in the journal Advances in Physiotherapy. Participants with persistent lower back pain, originating in the disks of the spine, were treated with regular deadlift training sessions and found it helped with pain intensity and function.
A word of caution, lifting heavy with your back needs to be done with correct form, otherwise you could do more harm than good – especially if you suffer from lower back pain. I suggest you do this with a good trainer, start light and consult a doctor before lifting heavy.
- Glute Bridges
Performing regular glute bridge thrusts can have a beneficial effect beyond sculpting a nice butt. Korean researchers found glute-sculpting exercises like glute bridges, resulted in “a greater decrease in low back pain disability index and increase in lumbar muscle strength and balance ability.”
The study found all those who complain of low back pain experience a decrease in muscle strength, muscle endurance, and flexibility, and limited range of motion when it comes to lumbar and lower limb joints.
Unlike the deadlift, glute bridges don’t require a gym or trainer to perform, just a bit of floor space and away you go. Ensure you keep your shoulders and feet on the floor and drive your heels into the ground.
- Squats
Whether loaded with a heavy weight or just done with your body weight, squats work the posterior chain of muscles just like the deadlift and the glute bridge and can be an incredibly versatile exercise. You can perform them with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells or sandbags, perform them slowly to increase the burn in your thighs, add a jump to increase plyometric power, or place the weight on your back or front.
All these variations tackle your muscles in different ways. However, at its core, squats are working your hamstrings and glutes, improving the skeletal muscle and range of motion in your lower limbs, which connect to your lower back through the posterior chain.
If you plan on advancing to heavy weights, I suggest a god trainer to guide you.
That’s it for now, see you all the next time.
