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| Exercises For Low Back Pain? |
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Question:
What exercises would aid in relieving low-back pain?
I see a chiropractor and he told me to do daily ab work to reduce a
strength imbalance between the erector spinae muscles and the abdominal
muscles. He said to not do back extensions as these would increase the
strength imbalance. He also gave me a few hamstring stretches, and told
me to do hamstring exercises.
He also told me to do smith machine squats instead of real squats, but
I'm ignoring that bit of advice.
First of all, does his advice seem correct? Secondly, are there any
exercises he ommited?
Answer:
used to have severe low-back pain, enough to where I could barely
walk. I purchased a book called "No More Aching Back," which outlined
some simple stretching exercises and the use of crunches to eliminate
the problem. I've been doing the stretches faithfully for the past
seven years and have not had a problem with my back since.
And yes, I can do squats without any problem.
Another key to preventing low back pain is to keep your abdominal muscles
strong. These muscles help support the back. Do abdominal crunchers,
not sit ups. Sit ups emphasize the hip flexors, not the abs, and can be
hard on the back. Crunchers are done by lying on your back with your
knees bent.
Press your low back into the floor and curl your head and
shoulders off the floor. Hold for a couple of seconds, then lower back
to the floor. Repeat until you can't get your shoulder blades off the
floor. Abs can be worked every day.
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