Easy Training Strategies to Help Alleviate Back Pain
Do you ever experience lower back pain?
It's common for the clients that I work with to experience back pain from time to time - sometimes we can pinpoint it to a specific exercise we're performing, and other times it just comes out of the blue.
The cause of back pain is highly variable between individuals, and the list of potential reasons is long - poor hip flexibility, tight muscles, increased life stress, overtraining, poor sleep, poor lifting technique, psychological factors, lack of movement, and so much more.
When my clients experience lower back pain, these are some of the strategies that I like to employ to get them feeling better sooner.
Remove the exercises causing the pain. If it's a squat or deadlift that's making pain worse, I'll usually swap it out for a single-leg exercise like a split squat or reverse lunge.
Sometimes switching out the exercise isn't necessary. Sometimes it's simply a matter of decreasing the load on the bar. To ensure the exercise is still challenging, I like to slow down the lowering and lifting portions and add pauses.
We will spend more time doing floor exercises - particularly in the warm-up. Think side/front planks, bird dogs, dead bugs, glute bridges, breathing exercises etc. By having more of the body on the floor, the less of an influence gravity plays on the system, which in some cases helps the body relax. Also, these low-level exercises seem to have an analgesic effect.
If the goal is strength or muscle building, sometimes I'll put that goal on hold for a session or two and have the client focus more on aerobic conditioning. Not only are we taking a break for heavier weights and higher volumes, but we're increasing the bodies' relaxation system. I really like to emphasize movements with an element of rotation in these circuits - like weighted carries, single-leg exercises and alternating upper body movements.
5. Outside of the session, I like to encourage my clients to walk as much as possible - low back pain or not. I find that people with frequent low back pain also have lower step counts. If your back is bothering you, do your best to be active throughout the day. Short, frequent bouts of walking tend to be superior to one long walk per day. The body is designed for many positions and postures - not just the desk jockey position.
If you're ever experiencing back pain, give these strategies a try and let me know how it goes :).
