Spine Wise: Exercises To Help Strengthen Your Back
Keeping your back strong is of the utmost importance if you want to keep your spine healthy. Yes, your chiropractor can help with your back, but there are a few back-strengthening exercises that you can do at home. The following guide will show you how to do the exercises.
Do The Fly
The first exercise you may want to try is usually called the reverse fly. This particular exercise helps strengthen your lower back muscles and helps with flexibility. Both exercises help strengthen your back so that it can withstand injury-causing incidents.
To perform this exercise, follow the steps below:
- Pick up some light dumbbells. Any weight around 5 to 8 pounds will do just fine. Hold one in each hand.
- Stand straight, and make sure that your feet are shoulder-length apart.
- Bend your knees slightly, and keep your back straight.
- Bend down at the waist, allowing your lower back to fall down (as if you were riding a bicycle, while hinging forward).
- Lift the dumbbells, pushing your shoulder blades together. Continue doing this exercise until you feel tired.
Back-Reaching
This particular exercise helps increase flexibility in and around your vertebrae and back muscles. To perform this exercise, just follow the steps below:
- Start on all fours, and make sure your lower back is down.
- Stretch your left arm forward while stretching your right leg, and flex your foot. Make sure both are straight. Stay in that position for 5 seconds, and return to all fours.
- Do the exact opposite using your right arm and left leg instead. Keep that position for 5 seconds.
- You can do these exercises until you feel tired.
A Bit of Swanning
Another exercise to help increase the flexibility around your lower back, which is the area that supports most movements and your weight, is swanning. Do the following to try this exercise:
- Lie flat on the ground facing down, your toes pointed, and your arms stretched forward.
- Lift your toes and legs a few inches off the ground. Lift your arms and upper body as well. You want your midsection to be the only thing on your body to touch the ground. Keep this position for a few seconds.
- Circle your hands around you as if you are trying to swim. You want to end with your hands on the side of hips. Keep this position for a few seconds.
- Reverse every step, and return to your starting position. Rest for a few seconds, and start again.
- Try to do this exercise as much as you can.
You can also talk to your back specialist or chiropractors, like those at Commonwealth Chiropractic, about other exercises that are more specific to your needs. These particular exercises are lumbar extension exercises and flexibility exercises, both of which have been proven to work towards a healthier and stronger back. But there are many more to consider, and your back specialist can examine your back and determine any weak areas in your back to recommend more specific exercises.
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