Do you have back pain? Back pain can be caused by over lifting and straining your back muscles, but also by a sedentary lifestyle and poor posture. Add these 5 back exercises to your workout regime to help strengthen your back, build muscle, and banish pain for good. The more you work out your back, the better those aching muscles will feel.
5 Strengthening Back Exercises
1) Hip bridge
If you spend too much time sitting in a desk chair, this move will counteract the compression on your back muscles and stretch your hip flexors. The hip bridge also strengthens the muscles along your spine that help to support your back. Lying on your back with both feet on the met and your knees bent, place your arms by your side. Press your feet into the ground and lift your hips. Hold for two seconds, then lower. Complete 10-15 reps.2) Swimmers
This lower back exercise gets its name from the fact that it looks like swimming on land. Get on your stomach on a mat, with arms and legs extended. Kick your feet and move your arms like you are doing the crawl stroke. Do 30-60 seconds of swimmers, then rest.3) Overhead press
If your pain is in the upper back, try overhead presses. You can do this move without a free weight or add in weights for optional complexity. To do an overhead press, stand with your feet just slightly wider than hip width apart. Lean forward slightly. Raise your arms overhead to touch, then squeeze as you bring your arms back by your sides. You should feel this move in the trapezius, the muscle that compresses when you squeeze your shoulder blades together. Do one to two sets of 20 overhead presses.
4) Opposite arm and leg extension
This abs and back strengthening move may be familiar to yogis. Get on all fours on a mat. Extend the right arm and the left leg, maintaining mat contact with the other limbs. Hold your limbs out for 5-10 seconds, then contract and extend the left arm and right leg. Repeat 5-6 times on each side.
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5) Floating back extension
To target your low back while also toning your legs, get onto your stomach on a mat. Flex your feet and press your hips and knees into the ground to activate your legs and help to stabilize your back. At the same time, lift your elbows and pull your shoulder blades in so your hands float in the air. Keep a neutral, long neck. Hold the pose for 20 seconds, then release.To strengthen your back without overexerting yourself, plan to do these 5 back exercises to strengthen your back no more than 2-3 times per week, for a total of 20-30 minutes. These exercises may be uncomfortable when you begin, especially if you have back pain from poor posture. The good news is, the more you do these exercises, the easier they will be and the stronger you will feel. Since they are bodyweight exercises and require no special equipment, you can do these back moves anywhere!
