The 3 Best Exercises for Relieving Back Pain: Part 1

How to Fix Back Pain at Home

I know the idea of exercising a sore back sounds terrible but hear me out:

If you don’t recall any particular trauma or injury that caused your pain in the first place, there is a good chance the pain is coming from some sort of muscle imbalance.

You will find that activating the right muscles will not only help rehabilitate the problem area - but will also help relieve the pain in the short term.  

That being said - if you are having back pain or any other symptoms - have it evaluated by a healthcare professional - exercise can be the best way to correct an issue - but it takes time - and if you self-diagnose the wrong problem - it can not only waste a lot of time - it can actually make things worse. So go get it checked out. 

The 3 Best Exercises for Relieving Back Pain

1. Bird dog/plank

This is meant for core activation - so let me warn you - these are not exciting exercises - but they are very important for overall health of the lower back. 

Planking 

1. Start by laying face down on the ground
2. Prop up your upper body with your forearms and elbows
3. Straighten your knees so only your toes touch the ground.
4. Focus on a stiff core so that your spine remains stable. Attempt to hold for at least 30 seconds with good form

Bird dog 

If you can not plank for at least 30 seconds at a time - I would first work up to 30 seconds of pain-free planking before performing the bird dog. 

1. Start in a plank position.
2. Reach your right arm straight in front of you (the way superman flies) while supporting yourself with the left arm.
3. At the same time extend your left leg. 
4. Alternate arms and legs in a steady motion. Core workouts are all about stability 

If you find yourself shaking or losing your balance you want to try this with just raising only 1 arm or 1 leg at a time as your develop more core stability.

2. Back Extensions

1. Lay flat on your stomach without using your arms raise your chest off the gound
2. Try to use only the muscles of the low back to perform this motion.

If this causes pain. Simply stop. 

3. Glute Bridge

1. Laying on your back with both knees bent so that your feet are flat on the floor 
2. Use your glutes and lower back muscles to push your pelvis upward.  
3. Hold pose for at least 3 seconds before lowering back to the ground slowly

Attempt 3-10 repititions at a time. You can progress by adding weight or resistance bands to increase the difficulty of this exercise. 

Conclusion

Our approach to fixing back pain has finally turned away from drugs and surgery and towards strengthening the body they way it was meant to be.

Exercises can not only prevent future problems - they can relieve current problems. Step one is getting a professional evaluation to know exactly what is causing your pain before you start your training. 

Related Resources:

The 3 Best Exercises for Relieving Back Pain Part 2