There are not many times or instances in training when pain is present, that a person thinks to put more of a focus or emphasis on the area where pain is felt. The back, in particular the lower back is one of those rare cases. Now, if you are feeling pain in your lower back, it does not always mean that you need to train it and build it up. Many things could be the cause of lower back pain such as a pulled muscle or even a slipped disc.
The point of this article is to point out that weakness when it comes to the lower back will usually lead to some sort of discomfort or pain.
Fitness and training has a purpose of strengthening the muscles. This might be to get the muscle to get bigger, to react faster, or to become more conditioned. Regardless, strength is a key objective. When looking at the lower back, getting strength and stabilization to work in a synergetic way is critical. The lower back takes a lot of impact throughout the day. It also helps out by providing a solid structure to the front of our bodies. So, if you have a stomach that is hanging over your waistline, your lower back is pulled because of the imbalance of weight in the front.
The lower back has an important role in our body’s balance and stabilization as you can see, so making sure it is strong is imperative. By having a weak lower back, one can see how pain can easily set in as well.
A great first step in getting your lower back strong is making sure your weight is in check. This begins with making sure the waistline is good. Most people who have a lot of fat in their stomach and have a “belly” experience lower back issues. Getting those lower back muscles stronger is much easier once weight is being lost and the stomach is flatter which takes those lower back muscles out of their compromised position.
Some isolated exercises to do for a stronger lower back are:
- Good Mornings
- Hyper Extensions
- Planks
- Reverse Superman Crunches
- Torso Twists
- Glute Bridges
- Dead Lifts (stiff legged or conventional)
Any kind of isolated lower back movement needs to be done with caution. The muscles that are being isolated are in constant contraction anyways throughout the day to keep you upright, so over training them is easy. Focusing on going nice and slow to get a feel for the movements and keeping your rep range around 10 is a good start. Maybe only start off with as few as 2 but no more than 3 sets.
