General exercise programs that combine cardiovascular components such as walking, with specific low back exercises have been shown to be more effective in both rehabilitation and for injury prevention. As a personal training pro, let’s talk about what exercise you can do.
Things to avoid when having low back pain
Knowing what to not do is as important as doing exercise to strength your core.
Here are the list of things you should avoid
- Unsupported forward flexion
- Twisting at the waist with turned feet, especially when carrying a load
- Lifting both legs simultaneously when lying down and face up
- Rapid movements, such as twisting, forward flexion, or hyperextension
“No pain No gain principle” does not apply when exercising the low back in pained individuals. Stop what you are doing immediately if you feel in pain.
Type of core training
McGill has developed an evidence based approach to developing a core training program for the trunk. According to McGill’s core exercise strategy, the first step must be to improve endurance capacity, especially any muscular imbalances. Individuals with poor endurance capacity of the trunk as well as muscular imbalances have an increased risk of back pain.
Muscular endurance is achieved by performing a high number of repetitions, usually with low loads.
Specifically you need to perform core training exercise 12 repetitions or more.
Muscular endurance training by Side Plank example
One effective endurance training strategy is to use the reverse pyramid training sequence(McGill 2004).
You begin the sequence by five repetitions (holding each repetition for 10 seconds) of side plank on one side, then immediately performing five repetitions on the opposite side. After that, you perform four repetitions (holding each for 10 seconds) of side plank on each side of the body. During the final set, you perform three repetitions of the same exercise on each side of the body.
Click here to learn some mobility exercises
to prevent low back pain