Anyone experiencing lower back pain should take a look at Robin McKenzie's fantastic (and brief) exercise book:
Treat Your Own Back
As a brief background, McKenzie, a New Zealander, is the most brilliant physical therapist of all time and the inventor of McKenzie exercises (described in this book). These exercises have revolutionized the treatment of disc injuries, either of the lumbar spine (lower back) or the cervical spine (neck). McKenzie exercises are often curative of lower back pain that is discogenic in origin (resulting from displaced or misaligned vertebral discs).
It's important to read the whole book (again, it's quite brief) and understand the basic points he makes about correct seated posture -- poor seated posture is at the root of a large number of chronic lower back problems. And it's important to do the exercises exactly as he describes; they are very simple so just follow the instructions to the letter.
******************
Separately, a great and underrated exercise for maintaining a supple lower back is weighted hyperextensions:
Make sure you incorporate these very regularly as part of your weight training routine.
Note that while the bitch in the video is nice to look at, her form is actually bad: you should keep your arms fully extended, not bent like she does; you should move in a controlled way through the full range of motion, without bouncing. Hold the weight with your fully extended arms -- do not clutch it to your chest.
Done properly, this is one of the best and most important exercises there is and the single most underutilized. It can correct many lower back problems. Start unweighted and then progress slowly using weights.
Treat Your Own Back
As a brief background, McKenzie, a New Zealander, is the most brilliant physical therapist of all time and the inventor of McKenzie exercises (described in this book). These exercises have revolutionized the treatment of disc injuries, either of the lumbar spine (lower back) or the cervical spine (neck). McKenzie exercises are often curative of lower back pain that is discogenic in origin (resulting from displaced or misaligned vertebral discs).
It's important to read the whole book (again, it's quite brief) and understand the basic points he makes about correct seated posture -- poor seated posture is at the root of a large number of chronic lower back problems. And it's important to do the exercises exactly as he describes; they are very simple so just follow the instructions to the letter.
******************
Separately, a great and underrated exercise for maintaining a supple lower back is weighted hyperextensions:
Make sure you incorporate these very regularly as part of your weight training routine.
Note that while the bitch in the video is nice to look at, her form is actually bad: you should keep your arms fully extended, not bent like she does; you should move in a controlled way through the full range of motion, without bouncing. Hold the weight with your fully extended arms -- do not clutch it to your chest.
Done properly, this is one of the best and most important exercises there is and the single most underutilized. It can correct many lower back problems. Start unweighted and then progress slowly using weights.
same old shit, sixes and sevens Shaft...