Core Exercises For Lower Back Pain Relief

When it comes to exercise for lower back pain relief, core training is one often the first things suggested. Unfortunately, many of those suffering from lower back pain are unaware that blind abdominal training alone may not improve back pain and in fact may make it worse.

A significant amount of university research has shown that high levels of lower back and abdominal strength is not correlated with low incident rates of backpain. In other words, having a strong low back or strong set of abs is not related to back pain in any way!

Having high levels of abdominal strength and low levels of lower back strength (or vice-versa) can actually pull your pelvis out of alignment and create more back problems. Your pelvis is essentially engaged in a constant tug of war between muscles trying to tilt it forward and by other muscles trying to tilt it backwards. If either group of muscles dominates, back injury and pain are much more likely to occur.

Rather than strength, it actually appears that muscular endurance is the most important quality that supportive muscular tissue can possess. Having a high endurance when performing the back-extension and the plank have been related to low incidences of pain.

To perform a plank, get into a push-up position, and then drop down to your elbows. The only parts of your body that should be in contact with the ground are your feet, your elbows, and your forearms. Your body should be in a straight line. At this point, you simply hold for time. After holding for a period of time, your abdominal muscles will start to feel exhausted. In order to get the maximum protective effect from pain, you should be able to hold this exercise for over 2 minutes.

Rather than a traditional back extension, the exercise associated with low incidences of low back pain involves holding the back extension in a contracted position. This is essentially the opposite of a plank. You can do this without equipment by laying on the edge of a bed with your upper body hanging off. You will need a partner to hold down your legs. Again, try to maintain a straight board position. This exercise is much harder than the plank, but you will still need to be able to hold it for 90 seconds in order to get the best effect against lower back pain.