I’m a personal trainer, I’ve destroyed two lumbar discs, gotten disc replacement surgery and currently working with a physiotherapist to get back on track. Back pain can have many causes. Anything from disc degeneration to muscle imbalances. If you’re not in pain that prevents you from doing them, there are a few exercises my physiotherapist has me doing.
Glute bridge to activate your glutes. Underactive glutes can cause you to compensate with your lower back muscles, causing overuse.
Prone cobra for strengthening your back muscles.
Plank and side plank for strengthening your abdominals, obliques and deeper core muscles
Lying hamstring stretch. Tight hamstrings, common in people who are sedentary or sit a lot for work, can cause referred lower back pain.
Kneeling hip flexor stretch. Hip flexors are also commonly tight in people who are sedentary or sit a lot. Can cause a muscle imbalance with the posterior chain, altering the length-tension relationship in the muscles.
But if you have more severe lower back pain, go see a doctor and get an MRI if necessary to find out if there’s something going on with your discs. Don’t just try to work through pain and ignore the problem. That’s what I did, and it just made things worse. You may not necessarily need surgery, but it’s good to find the root cause so you know what options you have.
I popped my two discs around L5. So far I’m trying to avoid surgery, pain is mostly under control at the moment but I’ve had extreme ups and downs for the last few months so…
Thank you for the exercise advice, I’ll look them up and compare with what I’m currently doing. I do the McGill big 3 every day plus some other exercises and stretches I learned during physical therapy but I don’t know the names of those.
I don’t know exactly what these are based on your descriptions, but I went through physical therapy and was given some stretches/exercises that do for sure help some. It isn’t a “cure”, but as you said, if you have back pain and can do them, you should be trying to.
I’m a personal trainer, I’ve destroyed two lumbar discs, gotten disc replacement surgery and currently working with a physiotherapist to get back on track. Back pain can have many causes. Anything from disc degeneration to muscle imbalances. If you’re not in pain that prevents you from doing them, there are a few exercises my physiotherapist has me doing.
But if you have more severe lower back pain, go see a doctor and get an MRI if necessary to find out if there’s something going on with your discs. Don’t just try to work through pain and ignore the problem. That’s what I did, and it just made things worse. You may not necessarily need surgery, but it’s good to find the root cause so you know what options you have.
I popped my two discs around L5. So far I’m trying to avoid surgery, pain is mostly under control at the moment but I’ve had extreme ups and downs for the last few months so…
Thank you for the exercise advice, I’ll look them up and compare with what I’m currently doing. I do the McGill big 3 every day plus some other exercises and stretches I learned during physical therapy but I don’t know the names of those.
I don’t know exactly what these are based on your descriptions, but I went through physical therapy and was given some stretches/exercises that do for sure help some. It isn’t a “cure”, but as you said, if you have back pain and can do them, you should be trying to.