Lower Back Exercises:
Millions of people suffer from back pain of varying degrees, some of which is intermittent and diffuse to disabling. Injury, poor posture, weak muscles, muscles spasms, and general stress on the body are some of the contributing factors to back pain. Treatment for back pain can be straight forward for some, but for others specific exercises for the back can offer relief from lower back pain and help strengthen the back.

The overall health of your lower back can be helped by performing some daily exercises. These exercises should be approached with some caution, any low back issue could be aggravated by performing these exercises incorrectly. Exercises for the back are available below, however you should always seek an assessment from a medical professional in advance to beginning any type of self-therapy or low back exercises.

Below are a number of exercises that should help improve low back mobility, ideally help to relieve back pain and strengthen the lower back:

Bracing: Learning to brace your core muscles is one of the first ways to protect your back from injury, it is important to brace when bending down, lifting, turning, getting out of bed or the car. To brace you simply contract your pelvic muscles enough so you can feel them tighten, your stomach should not change shape i.e. do not just suck in your stomach. It is important to practice this exercise when walking and moving. Bracing Exercise

Pelvic Tilt Exercises: The pelvic tilt exercise is a subtle way of gradually introducing mobility and movement into your lower back. Start by lying flat on the floor, and bring knees up to a bent position. Gently use your abs for this lower back exercise, and keep feet relaxed. Inhale and as you exhale, roll your pelvis back so as the small of your back presses against the floor, as you exhale then roll your pelvis forward in the opposite direction. Low Back Mobility

Child Pose & Back Extension Exercise: These exercises are a couple of additional low back mobility exercises, they are designed to help further increase the flexibility of the back. These exercises should be performed gently and within any pain range. These exercises are done to encourage flexion and extension of the lower back. Child Pose & Back Extension

Bird Dog Exercise: This exercise is a great progression exercise to introduce some strength and core activation, like all the exercises above it must be pain free. The objective of the exercise to build up to working the upper and lower body together but starting to practice them separately. You start on all fours with hands under shoulders, shoulder width apart and knees under hips, hip distance apart. Gently activate your core by bracing and being by sweeping one arm out to shoulder height and repeat, it is important to maintain a static core and torso, particularly when changing from one arm to the next. You repeat the same for the legs and when you feel you have sufficient strength and coordination you can do both of them simultaneously. Bird Dog Exercise

To further progress the bird dog you can add in a thera band for resistance, this is great to help generate rotational control from one side of the body to the next, good exercise for swimmers to help improve their rotations in the water. Resisted Bird Dog Exercise

Remember these are all exercises that should be coached correctly and done with no pain, if you suffer from back pain I recommend an assessment before trying any of these exercises, these videos are only for demonstration purposes and are specifically designed to be used as part of a rehab/treatment programme. If you would like further information please feel free to contact me at  www.romphysicaltherapy.ie