Lower Back – Strengthen & Protect

It’s common to hear about (and experience) lower back pain. We live in a predominately sedentary society where most careers/jobs don’t require a lot of movement throughout the day. The body requires stability, mobility, flexibility, and strength in order to move freely without restriction or pain; however, one of the main positions we find ourselves in throughout the day is the seated. If we’re not seated at work, we’re seated at home. I mean, who wants to watch Netflix standing?

A seated position creates the perfect storm for the body to start creating imbalances within the muscles and connective tissue. This causes the tissue to shorten and weaken. Connective tissue does what its name implies: supports and connects different tissues throughout the body. It’s the most abundant and widely distributed tissue found in the body. Fascia is a type of connective tissue with which most people are familiar.

Fascia provides structural support for the skeleton and soft tissues (e.g., muscles, tendons) and is found throughout the body, and, most notably, in and around muscles. The combination of shortened, weakened muscles and hardened fascia may start to show itself through lower back pain. That’s why you want to prioritize obtaining and maintaining healthy fascia. Healthy fascia will assist in maximizing mobility of the body. You can start with performing self myofascial release (fancy word for foam rolling). Muscles feel tight? It may be the fascia.

This is where a good strengthening program that focuses on core, glutes, and hip strength, along with foam rolling, will not only alleviate lower back pain it will also protect your spine and correct imbalances. If you incorporate some core, glutes, and hip strengthening exercises into your training, you’ll be on your way to a strong healthy back with greater spine stability and mobility.

Core exercises should include bird dogs, dead bugs, bicycle crunches, and mountain climbers, and training of the glutes and hips should incorporate various glute bridge exercises, hip thrusts, and various hip abduction exercises. You will also want to include some static stretches. These stretches don’t have to take too much time. Do them at the end of every training session. Hold each stretch for a minimum of 15 seconds (30 seconds, ideally). Some good stretches to try are low squats (yogi squat), low lunges, and the seated runner’s stretch.