The question when working out is how to reduce the back pain that causes problems.
Hey, Happy Mothers’ Day! Remember to call, text, or Skype your mom today! It was a great three days in San Diego for the Fitness Mastermind Meetings.
After working out on Thursday, my back was feeling a little stiff. Not sure if it was from the workout or from sitting too much. Mostly, the weather was poor in San Diego, so being inside was okay.
I did the exercises below, and my back felt much better.
So if your back gets stiff while working out, give the exercises below ago…..
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There are two things that I focus on:
Unlocking the hips and decompressing the spine.
Progressive Body Weight Squat
You can do easy exercises between your sets to unlock your hips and decompress your spine. The easiest way to unlock those hips is to do a Progressive Body Weight Squat.
When the hips are tight, your hip flexors pull your pelvis forward. This creates a larger arch in your lower back and takes your spine out of alignment. This increases your risk of back pain, back injury, and back re-injury. Compression in the spine also creates back pain and tension. Our spines are not designed to be under the kind of pressure that we put them under when we sit for hours on end. During your next workout, if you notice back pain or tension, try incorporating these exercises between sets to unlock your hip flexors, decompress your spine and decrease your back pain.
Go through a bodyweight squat, starting at one depth, then going a little bit deeper, and then going even a little deeper. Have your arms out front to counterbalance. Focus on keeping your curve in the spine the same throughout the movement. Work on bringing the hips as far down as you can to loosen up those hips.
Raising The Roof
Stand with your feet slightly more than hip-width apart and work on bringing those hips down as far as you can before your pelvis ends up tucking. Go through 10-20 repetitions to unlock those hips. Make sure you are not experiencing any pain in your knees as you squat.
We also need to look at decompressing the spine. Pressure increases in that spine throughout the day from sitting, driving, and office work. Sitting places 40% more pressure on the lower back than standing. This pressure increases during exercise, especially if you work with weights.
I call this exercise Raising The Roof. With your palms up, reach up and back. Think about pulling your spine up, creating space between the vertebrae.
Go as far as you can. Try to progress, reaching and arching back a little further with each repetition. The key thing to remember is that we are trying to get movement in the mid-back and low back.
Just do the range of motion that you can do. Go where you feel light resistance, hold for a second or two, and return.
Those are two easy, quick things you can do to ease back pain when you are exercising. Unlock those hips and then decompress the spine.
Final Word
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Take care!
If you are looking for a program to help you overcome your back pain, click here to check out Low Back Pain Solved.
