Exercise Can Help Relieve Lower Back Pain
If you are one of the millions of people that
suffer from lower back pain, then you need to
know that exercise can do wonders for you. When
it comes to relieving lower back pain, exercise
provides more long term relief than any back pills
that your doctor can give you. The fact is, pills
only serve to mask the problem by providing temporary
relief of the pain, but the problem that is causing
much of the pain is still there. Exercise will
strengthen the muscles that support your back
and improve flexibility thus greatly reducing
the chances of future attacks.You should be doing
a three fold program of exercise which includes
aerobics, resistance and stretching exercises.
Aerobic exercise like walking and bike riding
will begin to get your body conditioned properly
because it strengthens your heart and lightly
works your muscles. Resistance exercise like weight
lifting will strengthen the muscles that support
your back. Stretching exercises will increase
flexibility giving your back a greater range of
motion. Your doctor can guide you as to when and
how much of each type of exercise you should be
getting.For people with lower back pain, the best
aerobic exercises to do are low impact ones like
swimming, walking and bike riding. Jogging, dance
aerobics and step aerobics all produce repeated
impact on your back and on your knee and hip joints
as well.
In order to get in good condition, start out
with 15 minutes of light aerobic work per day,
2 to 3 times per week, and then gradually build
yourself up to 30 to 40 minutes per day, 4 to
5 times per week.You should be working enough
to raise your heart rate to be in between 65%
to 85% of your maximal heart rate. You determine
your maximal heart rate by subtracting your age
from 220. Regardless of whether you are walking,
bike riding or doing any other aerobic exercise,
always maintain good posture. This means sit up
strait, stand strait and do not slouch or lean
forward. Good posture is essential to any good
exercise program.When it comes to resistance exercising,
you always want to concentrate on the abdominal
muscles. These muscles play a major part in giving
your lower back support and the stronger they
are, the more relief for your back. Also important
is to do exercises that are designed to specifically
strengthen the lower back muscles themselves.
You will best benefit from working each muscle
group 2 to 3 times per week. You may want to hire
a qualified fitness trainer to help get you on
your way by designing a resistance program that
is right for you.Remember that while resistance
exercise is great for strengthening the targeted
muscles being worked, there should never be any
pain involved. Some discomfort should be present
in the muscles being worked while performing the
exercises for them, but should subside very shortly
after completion of the exercise. If there is
any pain during the exercises or if discomfort
persists for some time after, it is a sign that
something is wrong and exercising should be discontinued
and your doctor should be consulted immediately.
As far as stretching is concerned, 10 to 15 minutes
of moderate stretching per day is usually enough
to get the job done just fine. Here you really
want to concentrate on stretching your hamstrings
which are the muscles in the back of your upper
legs. The looser your hamstring muscles are, the
better range of motion your back will have as
flexible hamstring muscles do not put the strain
on your lower back that tight ones do. Stretching
the lower back muscles is also a must and sitting
on the floor with your legs flat on the floor
in front of you while you slowly reach for your
toes until you can't go any further, hold for
10 seconds, and sit back up is a great exercise
to stretch both your hamstrings and your lower
back. Repeat this stretch 2 to 3 times each day.While
there are no miracle cures for lower back pain,
you can make living with a lower back condition
much easier to deal with by simply incorporating
some exercise into your life each day. It is worth
the effort in the long run give up 30 to 40 minutes
per day, 4 to 5 days per week to exercise away
your lower back pain.
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