Lower Back Strengthening

Lower back strength is the key to preventing lower back pain and lower back injuries. Lower back strengthening can be difficult when you have back pain or are prone to back pain. We will show you how to use the exercise equipment available in your gym to strengthen your back

There are four groups of muscles available to support the back. Lower back strengthening should focus on strengthening these four muscle groups. The muscles available to support the front of the body are the abdominal muscles. The muscles available to support the back of the body are called the erector or extensor muscles of the back. The oblique abdominal muscles support either side of the body.

Imagine a cylinder such as a tin can. As long as the entire can is intact the is relatively strong. Remove or weaken one section of the can and the can becomes very weak. No matter how strong the remaining sections are, removal of one section of the can substantially weakens the structure of the can. In much the same way, if one of the sections of muscle is weaker than the other this creates uneven support for the back and overall back weakness.

With this in mind, it is very important to strengthen all of the muscles supporting the back. Doing sit-ups alone will not guarantee a strong supporting muscular structure to support the back.

The Life fitness Abdominal and Extension machines available at your local gym are ideal to strengthen your back extensor muscles and your abdominal muscles. Any one of a number of rotational exercises will strengthen the oblique muscles of the stomach. We will first examine the abdominal muscle machine.

Exercise #1

The goal of this exercise is to strengthen the extensor muscles. The extensor muscles are the muscles on either side of the spine.

The key to this exercise is starting from the upright position. Your thighs and spine should be a right angles to each other. From this position you push the machine backwards until you spine and thighs are aligned. You then return to the upright position. This exercise should be done slowly. If going all the way back is painful, do half of the exercise.
Proper body position is essential. The figures below show the force the muscles exert while doing the exercise. Notice that the starting position is upright. The force is exerted backwards against the resistance of the machine.

Preventing injury:
1. Start in the upright position. Do no let the machine push you forward past 90 degrees. Keep the resistance down and the number of repetitions high.

Exercise #2

The goal of this exercise is to strengthen the abdominal muscles.

Start in the upright position. Push the machine forward until you fully flex your back or until you feel any discomfort. Let the machine return to the starting position. Resist the machine as it returns to the starting position. Do not let the machine push your body backwards beyond 90 degrees.

Preventing injury:
1. Do not let the machine push you beyond 90 degrees. Keep the resistance down and the number of repetitions high.
2. If pain occurs, either stop the exercise or reduce the resistance
3. Do the exercise slowly
4. Try not to lock your feet underneath the foot holder of the machine. Locking your feet under the foot rests allows your hip flexors to help with the exercise. This will lessen the work done by the stomach muscles

Exercise #3

The goal of this exercise is to strengthen the oblique muscles of your stomach and back. When the exercise is done slowly, it will stretch the facet joints
1. Sit comfortably on the machine
2. Twist your body againsts the resistance of the machine
3. The farther you twist the more you will stretch the facet joints
4. Resist as the machine returns to the neutral position