Exercise and Back Pain
The Human Spine ... Picture from wikipedia
A common mistake people make when participating in fitness, is to stop training altogether when they start to feel back pain. Many people feel that they may further hurt their backs through exercise and understandably want to be cautious. If you are experiencing back pain it is always a good idea to get your doctor to have a look at it, and ask them about physical exercise, or go to a sports specific physio therapist to get a diagnosis. More often than not people rely on medical treatment to solve their back issues instead of exercise. This advice was given in the past but is no longer seen as very beneficial.
For the majority of back niggles, exercise is the perfect treatment to strengthen the problem areas and is a natural stimuli for the healing process. Keeping up a fitness regime will produce the best long term results as opposed to just resting. Inactivity may stop the back from hurting in the short term, but as the back is used again, more often than not the back problems will re appear.
If you rest the back for too long through inactivity, the back can actually get worse, which results in the patient resting the back even more. A vicious cycle begins and the person then starts to make regular visits to their chiropractor, physiotherapist or doctor which can be costly.
A good physiotherapist or chiropractor will be able to work with a personal trainer and health professional to create a fitness program that will strengthen back issues after a full diagnosis. Certain exercises can aggravate the back and these should be avoided until the body is strong enough to deal with them.
Research really does show time after time that keeping the back moving through exercise is the best form of treatment. It is estimated that back pain can be found in as many as 8 out of 10 people which is a staggering statistic. But if we look at how society works it can help to create a better picture and understanding of why this is such a common problem area. Firstly most people are office workers and invariably find themselves hunched over a desk for many hours per day, 5 days a week. This is not a position the back likes to be held in. One great solution to helping this problem is to sit on a Swiss ball whilst at work. This may sound odd, but a Swiss ball will force you to adopt good posture, and when the posture starts to go……well so will the Swiss ball and you will end up on the floor. A Swiss ball will also help the core stability muscles to kick in and can help you to burn over 200 extra calories per day. If you can get a note from your doctor stating your back pain issues, your work should not be able to refuse you the use of your Swiss ball. Office workers also sit on their bottoms / Glutes all day which can lead to inactive Glute muscles. Glutes help stabilization of the core, which help to support the back muscles.
For the majority of back niggles, exercise is the perfect treatment to strengthen the problem areas and is a natural stimuli for the healing process. Keeping up a fitness regime will produce the best long term results as opposed to just resting. Inactivity may stop the back from hurting in the short term, but as the back is used again, more often than not the back problems will re appear.
If you rest the back for too long through inactivity, the back can actually get worse, which results in the patient resting the back even more. A vicious cycle begins and the person then starts to make regular visits to their chiropractor, physiotherapist or doctor which can be costly.
A good physiotherapist or chiropractor will be able to work with a personal trainer and health professional to create a fitness program that will strengthen back issues after a full diagnosis. Certain exercises can aggravate the back and these should be avoided until the body is strong enough to deal with them.
Research really does show time after time that keeping the back moving through exercise is the best form of treatment. It is estimated that back pain can be found in as many as 8 out of 10 people which is a staggering statistic. But if we look at how society works it can help to create a better picture and understanding of why this is such a common problem area. Firstly most people are office workers and invariably find themselves hunched over a desk for many hours per day, 5 days a week. This is not a position the back likes to be held in. One great solution to helping this problem is to sit on a Swiss ball whilst at work. This may sound odd, but a Swiss ball will force you to adopt good posture, and when the posture starts to go……well so will the Swiss ball and you will end up on the floor. A Swiss ball will also help the core stability muscles to kick in and can help you to burn over 200 extra calories per day. If you can get a note from your doctor stating your back pain issues, your work should not be able to refuse you the use of your Swiss ball. Office workers also sit on their bottoms / Glutes all day which can lead to inactive Glute muscles. Glutes help stabilization of the core, which help to support the back muscles.
Swiss Ball
Office workers are statistically more likely to lead sedentary lifestyles, and go straight home after work as opposed to the gym because they are tired. This sedentary lifestyle will do your back no favours, and is a common cause of back pain due to weak unused muscles.
It should be noted than many fitness enthusiasts who are dedicated to their fitness regimes will also experience back pain from time to time. This can be a result of pushing things too hard, and not allowing the back time to recover.
Studies have shown that exercise can increase your pain threshold, so if you lead a sedentary lifestyle it takes less pain for you to feel more uncomfortable. Exercise will help to improve your pain threshold and keep you going.
Any fitness trainer who is worth their weight will be able to do a full postural analysis on you to see how you stand, sit and walk. Squat work is very good at sorting out bad posture and squats can be adapted to be done pain free. If you are participating in an exercise regime that hurts your back, try and change it, or take out the exercises that aggravate the back.
So in summary when you are suffering from back pain, consult your doctor or physiotherapist first. Find an exercise regime that can stick to and do stick to it. Have a detailed look at your posture and check to see if any improvements can be made. This alone can make a huge difference and a physiotherapist or qualified personal trainer will be able to help you with this. Strengthen Glutes which will help core stabilization. This is why in all of our Free Fitness Gym video we keep droning on about activating your glutes. Glutes are the power house of the lower body, a huge muscle which helps with stabilization and keeping the body working well.
“When your torso and hips are moving rapidly from back to front, your back can keep your torso rotating and put incredible strain on your spine. “When engaging glutes at the end of the swing it’s like a brake on the spine.” (Web MD)
And lastly the core muscles will help to support the back muscles, so make sure you include a core workout into your fitness routine. Avoid exercises that aggravate the back, and be consistent with your workouts. Try and do core stability exercises as well
And lastly core strength will help to support and improve back pain. So there is a lot of things we can all do to help our back, and resting them is generally not the answer, unless your back pain is from over use.
We hope you found this article helpful and are enjoying the ‘Free Fitness Gym’ workouts.
It should be noted than many fitness enthusiasts who are dedicated to their fitness regimes will also experience back pain from time to time. This can be a result of pushing things too hard, and not allowing the back time to recover.
Studies have shown that exercise can increase your pain threshold, so if you lead a sedentary lifestyle it takes less pain for you to feel more uncomfortable. Exercise will help to improve your pain threshold and keep you going.
Any fitness trainer who is worth their weight will be able to do a full postural analysis on you to see how you stand, sit and walk. Squat work is very good at sorting out bad posture and squats can be adapted to be done pain free. If you are participating in an exercise regime that hurts your back, try and change it, or take out the exercises that aggravate the back.
So in summary when you are suffering from back pain, consult your doctor or physiotherapist first. Find an exercise regime that can stick to and do stick to it. Have a detailed look at your posture and check to see if any improvements can be made. This alone can make a huge difference and a physiotherapist or qualified personal trainer will be able to help you with this. Strengthen Glutes which will help core stabilization. This is why in all of our Free Fitness Gym video we keep droning on about activating your glutes. Glutes are the power house of the lower body, a huge muscle which helps with stabilization and keeping the body working well.
“When your torso and hips are moving rapidly from back to front, your back can keep your torso rotating and put incredible strain on your spine. “When engaging glutes at the end of the swing it’s like a brake on the spine.” (Web MD)
And lastly the core muscles will help to support the back muscles, so make sure you include a core workout into your fitness routine. Avoid exercises that aggravate the back, and be consistent with your workouts. Try and do core stability exercises as well
And lastly core strength will help to support and improve back pain. So there is a lot of things we can all do to help our back, and resting them is generally not the answer, unless your back pain is from over use.
We hope you found this article helpful and are enjoying the ‘Free Fitness Gym’ workouts.