6 Best Exercises to Alleviate Back Pain
Isn’t it great to get out on a sunny day and play tennis or golf? How about running on the beach or playing in the pool with your family? These are some of the fun activities you can do when you are pain-free. It’s a different situation if you have a back problem.
When you have back pain, it affects all the everyday movements that you take for granted. From walking to sleeping, you will feel excruciating pain in your upper and lower back. If you are lucky, the pain may subside after a few days. In more severe cases, the back pain can persist for a long time, severely inconveniencing your daily activities.
What can you do to ease the pain and get on the road to recovery? A great starting point is to visit a physiotherapy clinic like Alpha Health Services, where you will receive appropriate treatments. In addition, you can also try out various exercises for back pain relief. Here are six effective exercises that can alleviate your back pain:
Stretches
Most people think stretching is something you should do before and after you exercise. In fact, stretching is an exercise where you target specific muscles by flexing them to increase range of motion, gain muscle control and improve elasticity. If you have back pain, your chiropractor or physiotherapist will probably recommend a stretching routine tailored to you and your injury.
For the neck and shoulder, you can try flexion stretches, corner stretches, and lateral stretches. For the lower back, add lunges, pelvic tilts, glute bridges, and back flexion stretches to your exercise routine. To target the hamstring, do standing and towel stretches.
These exercises are low impact, allowing you to go to the edge of the pain and flexibility and hold it. As you gain strength, you will increase your stretch and get relief from pain.
Yoga Poses
Yoga is a discipline that originates from India over 5000 years ago. It is a practice of breathing, stretching, and movement that is mental, physical, and spiritual. Many yoga poses are beneficial for back pain and can give relief with regular practice. Some beneficial moves include the cat-cow, downward-facing dog pose, child’s pose, and bridges.
Besides these poses, don’t forget to end with the corpse pose. This exercise is where you lay flat on your back and relax all your muscles. You can also empty your mind and listen to your heart. This calming pose will help ease the strain on your back and let you centre yourself to take on the day. Practice all these poses as often as you can.
Wall Sits
The wall sit is an exercise that stretches and builds muscle together. It seems simple, but it is tough to master. Your goal is to strengthen your lower back as well as your glutes and legs.
The idea is to sit upright in a chair without the chair. You position yourself on a wall with your back flat against it and slide down until your legs are at a 90-degree angle. Hold for 5-10 seconds and carefully come back up to rest and repeat 8-10 times each session. You can also use an exercise ball between your back and the wall.
Butterfly Sitting
This pose is done on the floor and is a gentle stretching routine to strengthen your lower back. You sit on the floor with your back upright with your legs straight in front of you. Bend the knees and bring the soles of your feet together towards the pelvis. Then, drop your knees to the floor if you can. You can use your elbows to help.
You may not be able to do this exercise fully, but it is a gradual process. The goal is to increase your movement as you gain flexibility in the pose. Hold your position for 10 seconds and then release. Repeat 8-10 times.
Back Rotations
These are great exercises you can do anywhere, whether at work or home. You can do them on the floor, in a chair and even standing up. Put your hand together behind your head and gently twist your body at the core while keeping the hips square. Go to your limit and hold for 10 seconds before swinging around to the other side. Make sure to have your feet planted on the ground and keep your spine straight.
Light Aerobic Exercise
Movement gets the blood pumping and raises the heart rate. This exercise benefits your back problems, but you need to do movements that don’t increase the pain. Start with the basics like walking and even biking. Make sure you only go a short distance and build up over time.
If this gives you back pain, a great alternative is swimming. The water will help support your back while you still get the light cardio. You can walk in waist-high water and practice strokes that don’t twist your body.
Back pain is no fun. As we age, we can develop more back problems, and we need to work on relieving that pain while regaining our flexibility. Working with your physiotherapist will help you age without age-related back problems. Use these exercises for back pain relief, and before you know it, you’ll be back on the court perfecting your topspin.
