You wake up in the morning and struggle to get out of bed, you struggle to bend over to tie your shoelaces and you can't sit comfortably on the couch whilst watching TV…. Sound familiar?
Lower back pain is often caused by an injury to a muscle or ligament which is commonly caused by improper lifting, poor posture, excess weight and lack of regular exercise. Lower back pain can affect everyone, from office workers to manual labourers. Whilst major back pain needs to be diagnosed and treated by an industry professional, you can do multiple beneficial things to help manage, treat and prevent any back pain.
Number 1: Stretching
Regularly stretching can be extremely beneficial for releasing any stress or tension in your lower back. If you have tight lower limb muscles, the tension and stress can often shift the pelvis causing other muscles to compensate and tighten up to prevent this from occurring, therefore leading to a sore lower back.
Number 2: Strengthening your abdominals
Another way to prevent you from experiencing lower back is to strengthen your abdominals. Your abdominals are a crucial and important muscle in keeping the spine alignment and strength intact. Loose or weak abdominals tend to cause lower back pain by encouraging you to have a forward-leaning posture which places enormous amounts of stress on the lower back muscles. Abdominal strengthening doesn't include exercise like crunches, the reality is that this is the wrong exercise and will eventually end in worsening your posture and may cause further back pain. Exercises focusing on deeper abdominals are more beneficial.
Number 3: Straighten up that posture
Often common in office workers or those who spend hours at a desk, poor posture can be influenced by having poor strength or muscle development in the upper back, Rounded shoulders or a dominant chest, this being the major muscles which help control the scapula. In order to correct this, you must complete exercises which help reduce the effect of certain lifestyle activities being those exercise involving the upper back
Number 4: lose those extra KGs
We often carry extra weight around our torso area which leads to overcompensation from the back muscles to keep us upright, so losing those few extra kilos can have significant benefits when it comes to lower back pain.
In summary, lower back pain is a common issue amongst society! However, with the right preventative actions such as stretching, foam rolling, abdominal strengthening and straightening up your posture, lower back pain might never be a problem for you!
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