Read how to control back pain and problems with your training

Read how to control back problems with your training

As many as 60% of people experience pain in the lower back during their life, and one of the most common causes for the pain is spinal disc herniation. Commonly called slipped disc, these problems are currently very common, both for people who train and for those who don’t. The cause for back pain in everyday life as well as in training is usually the lack of strength and poor activation of the stabiliser muscles as well as lack of mobility in the body.
If our bodies have more strength than stability and mobility, the body won’t be able to withstand the resulting strain. This can be a result of sitting too much or hard training, focusing on too few areas.

You could think of stability and mobility as the basis of good health and fitness. When we have more reserves in these than there is strength in the body, we can train and move safely, knowing the body is capable of handling the stress caused by training.
Healthy stabiliser muscles and good mobility are important elements when we want to avoid back pain and keep the back in good condition.

Here are five tips on how to control your back pain and problems.

1. Activate the built-in support belt

When the muscles in the middle of the body (the core) are activated, they should form a support belt that wraps around the whole spine. When talking about back pain, one of the most significant causes of pain is when the activation of deep abdominal muscles, in other words, the transverse abdominal muscle, takes place at the wrong time. The support belt in the middle of the body should function every time you move, whatever the movement, in everyday life and during training. In the ideal situation, the stabiliser muscles wake up slightly before the movement where support is needed takes place. If the activation happens at the wrong time, too late, the support corset of the core can’t support our spine effectively. This is why many people can end up with a slipped disc just getting out of bed.

You can test the reactivity of your own abdominal muscles right away with this easy test: place
your palms against each other, wait for a moment, and then press your hands against each other with force. Did you feel something in your stomach? If you noticed your abdominal muscles contracting, you can congratulate yourself, because the reaction of the abs worked.

2. Use diverse training for the abdominal muscles

It’s not enough to just do crunches in your training, and you might end up making your back pain worse! When we do crunches, where we train the abdominal surface muscles that curl the body, we also activate the hip flexors. If the hip flexor muscles become too tight, they have a negative effect on our posture: the curve in the lower back becomes more prominent, and the chest sinks. The worsening posture increases the pressure and stress on the vertebra and exposes us to even more back pain. Diversity is the keyword for training the core. We must take into account the abdominal muscle, external obliques, transverse abdominal muscle, sides, and the muscles of the back.

3. Integrate

So that the core can function optimally, activating abdominal muscles and training in different ways is not enough on its own. In addition to these two important elements, we must be able to integrate the core. Integrating means the ability of the core to support the movement when the arms and/or legs are moving. A great example of this is press-ups. Many people can control the stationary plank in the right way, but what happens when you add movement to the plank, and it becomes a press-up? A press-up requires more strength from the shoulders, triceps and chest muscle and if the core is not functioning properly during the movement (the motor control hasn’t been integrated with the core), the back won’t be able to hold the position and arches, causing more pressure on the spinal discs.
So in addition to activating abdominal muscles with stationary exercises, for example, done lying on the floor, we should include movements, which help us train integration.

4. Take care of mobility

When treating back problems, attention should be paid especially to the mobility of the hamstrings and hip. The aim is to create as neutral a position for the spine as possible, so there is no additional pressure on the spinal discs. Our current posture determines the most important areas to improve. Look at your posture in the mirror. If you notice that your lower back is curving, it is important to open up the hip flexors at the front of the body and activate and strengthen the abdominal muscles. If on the other hand, the back looks like it’s rounding, attention should be on strengthening the support for the upper back and opening up the chest and hamstrings.

5. Take breaks from sitting

Nowadays most of the time we are awake is spent sitting: we wake up in the morning and eat
breakfast at the table, drive the car to work, and sit at a computer for 7-8 hours. After work, we jump back into the car and head home, eat dinner, and maybe sit on a sofa to watch tv before going to sleep. This might sound extreme, but unfortunately, it’s very accurate for many people today. Sitting too much is not good for the health; sitting continuously for only two hours straight increases, for example, the risk of type 2 diabetes.
So if you have to sit a lot in your work, I recommend getting up from your chair at least once every hour to stretch your legs by walking around - it is recommended you take breaks every half an hour, because the back muscles can hold good posture for that 30 minutes, after which they get tired and you start to slump. Do a couple of twist exercises and maintain the hydration of the vertebra.

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