7 Ways To Begin Injury Proofing your Lower Back

Do you suffer from lower back pain? Or have you in the past? Chances are if it’s the latter you won’t be in a hurry to repeat the experience.

Debilitating and frustrating in equal measure, low back pain can impact your everyday and affect your sleep too, leaving you feeling miserable and exhausted.

The good news is it’s never too late to put in place a few good habits to protect your spine, strengthen the muscles around it and ultimately reduce the chances you’ll pick up a lower back injury.

In the video above you’ll find seven ideas that you can put into place straight away – so what are you waiting for?

Build resilience to prevent injury from everyday movements

You may be conscious about hurting your back when you’re playing a sport or working out, but often you’ll find it’s the ‘normal’ movements like bending to pick up a Lego brick or twisting awkwardly to get into the car, that cause the issues. 

That’s why it’s important to make sure that the types of exercises you’re doing are working to protect your spine and the muscles supporting it, not just at the time you’re performing the exercise, but afterwards too. 

Appropriate, resilience-building lower back exercises are not necessarily traditional fitness exercises, but those that help you learn how to keep a neutral posture in your spine and make everyday movements such as rotating and carrying safely. All the while practicing making best use of the muscles that are in prime position to support your spine. 

So in time those everyday movements will be ingrained in your brain and muscle memory so you’ll naturally carry them out in a way that is less likely to cause damage.

Work on your general levels of fitness

Work on your cardiovascular fitness and general strength to improve balance and stability. You don’t have to become the fittest person in the world, but you will find your lower back feels generally better as your fitness levels improve.

Consider your back in everything you do

Balance sitting and standing – if you’ve been sedentary for a period of time at work make sure you go for a walk around the office to reduce stiffness and pressure on your lumbar region. This is something that is easy to remember in times when your back is a little sore or stiff, but it’s a useful habit to get into even in the good times, helping your spine to ease up and relax regularly.

You should also be careful about the types of exercises you do first thing in the morning – spine-bending exercises such as crunches could do more harm than good if you jump out of bed and immediately start working out. Find out why when you watch the tutorial above. 

You can help reduce risk of injury and improve resilience in lower back when you attend my Lower Back Pain Webinar. Sign up for an upcoming date and I’ll share with you the gym-based method I use every day to help my clients overcome back pain.