Back Strengthening Exercises
Jan 23rd, 2008 by Jessica Dawn
Back strengthening exercises, specifically lower back strengthening exercises, are an important part of any well balanced workout routine. For me, even though I know it’s important, I find it very easy to skip the strengthening and stretching of the lower back. The exercises are kind of boring, I don’t get overly fatigued, and it takes time away from other fun exercises like running, jumping rope, or lifting weights.
The only way I can motivate myself to make an effort to perform lower back strengthening and stretching on a regular basis is to remind myself that it helps prevent fluke injuries and develops my body strength in a balanced way. It helps me stay motivated enough to do the exercises at least once per week.
In case you needed some direction on which exercises to do or how to do them, I found two reference articles you can use as guides to incorporating lower back exercises into your routine. The first article demonstrates back strengthening exercises with the use of an exercise ball. The second article shows lower back stretches and strengthening moves you can do at home, without any equipment.
I also wanted to give you some of my strategies for incorporating these exercises into your regular workout.
Strategies
*One of my strategies for including lower back exercises in my routine is to perform the exercises between sets.
*Rotate between lower back and core exercises to keep your heart rate elevated during your workout.
*Lower Back exercises and stretching at the end of my workout as a cool-down.
In addition to preventing injuries, improving strength and flexibility of abdominal and back muscles helps to stabilize the spine and make it easier to maintain correct posture. Five or ten minutes a week of invested time can prevent weeks of slow recovery and continual pain (I know about this very well). Instead of ignoring the importance of these exercises, just give in and do them! You’ll thank me!
Oh ya…If you do your exercises and still have chronic back pain, you might want to check out this website I found that deals with rehabilitation and natural pain management.
