attention runners with back pain you need to do these exercises more

If there is one type of pain that everyone has definitely experienced, can you guess what it is? That's right, it's back pain, also known as lower back pain. Almost everyone has experienced or is experiencing back pain at some stage in their life, whether acute, chronic, or acute turning into chronic.

Back pain is a very common condition with a very high incidence rate.Back pain tends to recur, sometimes better, sometimes worse. Back pain is alsoa major cause of functional impairment, disability, missed work, and decreased quality of life. Nowadays, the vast majority of office workers have more or less symptoms of back pain, so how can back pain be alleviated?

Prolonged sitting is a major factor leading to back pain

Whether in professional work or daily life, prolonged sitting has become the biggest issue affecting human health. Prolonged sitting is closely related to chronic diseases that lead to human death, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer.Of course, it is also an important cause of back pain.

On one hand, the stability of the lower back largely depends on muscles; lack of exercise causes muscle atrophy, stiffness, and imbalance, thereby reducing spinal stability. On the other hand, prolonged sitting often leads to slouching and poor posture, increasing lumbar pressure.

Since most professionals work in a sitting position, poor sitting posture is obviously detrimental to spinal health. Common poor postures include not fully sitting back in the chair, lack of effective back support, slouching, and shoulder misalignment. These all greatly increase lumbar pressure.

Can lying flat relieve back pain?

When back pain acutely flares up, the lower back is almost immobile. Reducing lower back activity by lying in bed to relieve pain is the most basic understanding of back pain treatment. However, recent studies have shown that bed rest does not help patients recover faster compared to maintaining normal activities and can bring many negative effects.

This means that even if you have acute back pain, you don't need to rest in bed; just go about your usual activities, and it will typically ease in a few days. This may sound like a joke, but it's true. The idea that back pain requires bed rest has been largely abandoned by modern rehabilitation medicine. Since bed rest does not help relieve back pain, it is unnecessary.

How can back pain be effectively alleviated?

When discussing exercise rehabilitation for back pain, we often think of exercises like strengthening the core muscles and doing planks. Indeed, strengthening the core muscles can improve the strength of the muscles around the lumbar spine and enhance spinal stability.However, we should not narrowly interpret exercise for back pain as just core muscle training.

In fact, most back pain patients can greatly alleviate their symptoms by doing aerobic exercises like walking, running, and swimming.Although aerobic exercises do not specifically target the lower back, they are full-body exercises that also work the core. More importantly, doing more aerobic exercises changes the sedentary lifestyle.

As long as you break the habit of prolonged sitting and become more active, issues like excessive lumbar load, continuous tension, stiffness, and imbalance of lower back muscles and soft tissues can be resolved.Therefore, many studies have confirmed that aerobic exercises like fitness and running can effectively alleviate back pain. This is because aerobic exercise improves overall health, including back pain.

What exercises should back pain sufferers do regularly?

For back pain patients, the focus should be on activating the deep core muscles of the spine without increasing lumbar pressure. This mainly involves posture control training, focusing on strengthening the deep core muscles like the transverse abdominis and multifidus. This is achieved through static exercises and small, finely controlled movements.

1. Spinal extension exercise

This exercise is helpful for most back pain patients, especially those with disc herniation. Avoid lifting the pelvis off the ground and causing back pain. This is also a classic exercise in McKenzie therapy. Hold for 15-20 seconds, repeat 8-12 times.

2. Supine transverse abdominis activation

In this exercise, lie on your back, press your hands on both sides of your abdomen, and while inhaling, push your belly out to feel the deep transverse abdominis muscle working. Do 12-16 reps per set, complete 2 sets.

3. Supine transverse abdominis and multifidus activation

In this exercise, lie on your back with hips and knees bent and feet on the ground. Since the lumbar spine naturally curves forward, it won't fully touch the ground in this position. Perform belly pushes and posterior pelvic tilts to make the lower back fully touch the ground. This activates both the transverse abdominis and multifidus muscles. Do 12-16 reps per set, complete 2 sets.

4. Supine self-resistance exercise

In this exercise, lie on your back with hips and knees bent, legs parallel to the ground. Press your hands against your knees and perform static resistance. You should feel the deep transverse abdominis muscle working. Hold for 15 seconds per set, complete 2 sets.

5. Supine alternating leg lifts

In this exercise, activate the transverse abdominis and press the lower back to the ground, then alternate lifting and lowering the legs. A common mistake is arching the lower back when lifting the legs. Do 12-16 reps, complete 2 sets.

6. Supine alternating arm and leg lifts

In this exercise, activate the transverse abdominis and press the lower back to the ground, then alternate lifting the opposite arm and leg. Do 12-16 reps, complete 2 sets.

7. Kneeling leg extensions

In this exercise, keep the lower back stable without any wobbling while extending the leg backward. Although it looks like a leg exercise, the focus is on the spine's ability to resist rotation and maintain stability. Do 12-16 reps, complete 2 sets.

8. Kneeling opposite arm and leg extensions

In this exercise, keep the lower back stable without any wobbling while extending the opposite arm forward and leg backward. Do 12-16 reps, complete 2 sets.

9. Glute bridge

The glute bridge is a classic rehabilitation exercise for back pain. When doing rehabilitation exercises, avoid moving too quickly. Do 12-16 reps, complete 2 sets.

10. Kneeling plank

In this exercise, the kneeling position greatly reduces lumbar pressure while activating the transverse abdominis. Hold for 30 seconds, complete 2 sets.

11. Kneeling side plank

In this exercise, the kneeling position greatly reduces lumbar pressure while activating the quadratus lumborum and gluteus medius. Hold for 15 seconds, complete 2 sets.