If you’re suffering from lower back pain, this article is for you. Here, I have rounded up the 7 best strength exercises for lower back pain to not only increase blood flow to this area but also engage your arm, leg, and core muscles.
Without further ado, let’s dive right in!
Partial Curls
Muscles works: transverse abdominis and rectus abdominis
Benefits: contribute to overall core stability and strength; maintain proper hip alignment, and support the spine
How to:
Lie back on the floor with your knees bent, your feet flat, and your hip-width apart
Cross your hands over the chest
Deeply inhale and while exhaling, engage your abdominal muscles by pulling the belly button in toward your spine
Slowly raise your shoulders and head off the floor (about 2 inches) while avoiding pulling up with your neck. The best gesture is keeping it in line with the spine without rounding.
Hold for five seconds and return to the starting position
Repeat ten times.
Perform three sets
Supermans
Muscles worked: shoulders, hips, and buttocks, back
Benefits: allow you to arch your back, support your pelvic bones and spines, maintain an upright position.
Extra notes: Stop doing this exercise if it makes your back pain worse.
How to:
Lie on your stomach with your face down on the floor and your arms stretched out in front of your body. Meanwhile, keep your legs stretched out, long, and flat on the floor.
Raise your feet and hands off the floor until you feel a contraction in the lower back, or aiming to make a gap of around six inches between them and the ground.
Gently pull in your belly button and lift it off the floor to engage your core muscles
Reach away with your feet and hands.
To avoid neck strain, make sure to keep your head straight and look at the floor while exercising. Stretch your feet and hands outward as far as possible.
Hold for two seconds then return to the starting position. Repeat this exercise ten times.
Lying Lateral Leg Raises
Muscles worked: Gluteus medius
Benefits: enhanced your mobility, balance, and stability; strength hip abductor muscles; support the pelvis
How to:
Lie on one side with both of your legs together and the lower one bent slightly on the ground.
Engage your core muscles by drawing your belly button toward the spine. Now, without moving the rest of your body, lift the top leg of yours up around 18 inches while keeping it extended and straight.
Hold for two seconds and return to the starting position.
Repeat 10 times and three sets on this side and exercise similarly on the other side.
Drawing-In Maneuver
Muscles worked: transverse abdominis
Benefits: support your abdomen and spine;
The transverse abdominis is the muscle that wraps around the midline. It helps support the spine and abdomen.
Note: To avoid injury while exercising, always stabilize your spinal joints
How to:
Lie back on the ground with you feet hip-width apart, flat on the floor and knees bent while both of your arms kept by the sides
Deeply inhale and while exhaling, pull your belly button toward the spine to engage core muscles.
Tighten your abdominal muscles as much as possible without tilting the hips
Hold for five seconds and return to the starting position. Repeat five times.
Bridges
Muscles worked: gluteus maximus
Benefits: stabilize your lower back and hip joints while moving, like jogging, running, and walking.
How to:
Lie back on the floor with your feet hip-width apart, flat on the ground, and knees bent. Your arms are by your sides.
Now, press the feet into the ground while you raise your buttocks up. Lift them off the floor and squeeze your buttocks until your body forms a straight line from the knees to shoulders (shoulders are remained on the floor, no lifting-up).
Hold for 10 to 15 seconds then slowly return to the starting position.
If you’re new to this exercise, take a short rest for some seconds. Repeat 15 times and do three sets. Take a short 1-minute rest between sets.
Seated Lower Back Rotational Stretches
Benefits: strengthen your lower back; work your core muscles; relieve pain (commonly happen in office workers who have to sit for a long time)
How-to:
Sit comfortably on an armless chair or tool with both of your feet flat on the ground. Keep the spine tall and the hips square while twisting at the core to the right.
Place your right hand on the left knee or both of your hands behind your head to support the stretch. Hold for ten seconds and return to the starting gesture. Repeat on each side five times.
It’s best to do it during your break.
Cat Stretches
Benefits: ease tension in the muscles; strength and lengthen the back
How-to:
Get onto both of your knees and hands; the knees are kept hip-width apart.
Deeply inhale. While arching your back, pull the belly button toward your spine to engage your core musclesSlowly return to the starting position and keep sagging down your abdomen toward the ground. Exhale. Again, turning to the starting position. Repeat five times and do two sets.
Conclusion
Above are the 7 best strength exercises for lower back pain with detailed explanations that might be useful for those people who want to manage their lower back issues better. Thanks for reading!
Nancy Lang
