Back pain is a huge topic and one that requires a one on one diagnosis in many cases. Some causes include desk work,injury, underlying chronic conditions and postural or muscular imbalances, the list goes on.

It can be related to vertebral issues like slipped disk, scoliosis, lordosis and more. These all require individualised programming, exercises and rehab with guidance from your medical professional.

When it comes to executing on the exercises to help this condition, there are a few guidelines to consider to ensure you get the most out of your exercise.

*Note – these guidelines are general in nature and do replace specific advice for each individual condition. 

 

• Strengthen and Stretch Opposing Muscles 

 

Looking at your body holistically can really help here. The basic rule is ‘stretch what is strong, strengthen what is weak’ with any type of movement. When addressing back pain it is likely that the postural muscles around your spine are weak as we sit and do forward movements predominantly.

In this case, stretching the chest and pec muscles plus shoulders would be helpful for upper back pain relief. For lower back, it would help here to release your hip flexors, iliopsoas and even the quads as these muscles are often associated with lower back pain and tightness of the front of the body.

Then you would look at strengthening the back muscles that are weak.

In the case of the upper back area, squeezing your shoulder blades down and back is a great start. Then focusing on bodyweight or resistance band exercises for upper back extension is very helpful for opening up your posture and keeping your muscles strong in this area.

In the case of the lower back, strengthening your hips, glutes and lower abdominals in particular helps. Exercises where you are strengthening what is around and opposite the lower back is a must for better mobility and stability of the pelvis.

 

• Focus On Your Core More

 

Core strength is vital to the centering of your body, stability and support of your spine. Without it you will fall short in the endeavour to help back pain.

Your core involves your entire trunk, not just your ‘abs.’ Often people may then pursue crunches and situps or what is thought to be ‘core work.’

Targeting deeper layers of abdominals especially your Transverse Abdominals and deeper spinal muscles will help your body balance out on that deeper level for better stability and support around the spine.

Time must also be spent on pelvic floor strength to ensure you are not just getting the top layers of tummy muscles working and overdoing one muscle group. (For pelvic floor guidance click here.)

Spending more time on balanced core exercises will help your lower back and entire body over time. (For a complete and easy to follow home core & Pilates program check join the 10 Week Pilates Fit program now!)

 

• Look At Your Daily Rituals

 

What do you spend most hours doing each day? Are your muscles awake or laying dormant most of the time? Do you have a movement session of some kind each day to work on your body in a balanced way?

Taking a good look at how you spend your day and what activities are involved, you can start to add movement where it is needed and break up long periods of sitting, for example.

This may sound simple, but it’s often not until we start feeling pain and experience problems with our back that we really look at this!

A basic rule of thumb is every 1.5 – 2 hours, completely change your position to fire up other muscles. One example of this is if you are sitting at a desk, sitting up tall and pulling in your core is a great start but also standing up to move around, stretching your hip flexors  few times a day will also help. (Click here for a quick ‘desk work’ stretch routine to ease tired muscles!)

Another example is while I have been feeding my baby at night, I started to get pain in my upper back from the way I have been leaning forward slightly for hours each day. So I changed the chair and put pillows at the back plus under my arm if needed for better alignment. You can also check over how you sit and what type of chair or desk setup you have for your particular activity.

On the other end of the scale if you are doing lots of standing every day, then taking a break to sit or lie down and place your legs up the wall for some relaxing of those active muscles is most beneficial here. 

Once you know what condition you are dealing with or if it is simply lack of strength and movement, then doing a routine or exercises each day is best as your body thrives on movement. 

It doesn’t really matter when you do your exercise, choose what suits your schedule and body best. If you wake up and really need a stretch, then do that. If you find you need your routine at night after a long day, that works too. Splitting up your routine to morning and night even with a few stretches (like the office stretch above) can help you keep back pain at bay.

Reach out if you have any questions! Chat soon wonderful people.