A marathon of sitting leads to low back pain
When you wake up you can sit down to have a coffee or to have breakfast and then you sit down again to drive to work. Upon arrival at work, the business employee will often sit at a desk or in meetings until lunch. At lunch, you are back again, before you sit down at your desk until the end of the working day. Then, of course, there is the return journey home and another meal where you sit down again.
Exhausted from a long day of sitting in the office, you may be sitting on the couch watching television to relax. If we look at this from an anatomical point of view, we realize that the hamstrings and other leg muscles are shortened by the many hours of sitting and that causes tension on the lower back.
Relieve low back pain through yoga exercises
For the relief of low back pain, you can do the following positions daily or at least after each training session / work out.
Because images say more than a thousand words, I added a link to a video for almost every exercise (except for a simple breathing exercise). Here you can follow the exercise live in your own time and in a simple way. Moreover, most videos last only between 1 and 2 minutes, so you do not need much time to actively do something for your back.
Yoga has been found effective for stretching your muscles and making your entire body more flexible. Moreover, these stretching exercises also ensure good blood circulation, which in turn ensures that your back gets sufficient nutrients.
In short, the back pain exercises below are ideal for people with little time, who still like to tackle their low back pain themselves. Follow them or read through them to try them yourself!
1. Reclining Hamstring Stretch
Lie on your back, bend your right knee to your chest and place a belt or a rolled up towel around the ball of your foot. Extend your leg to the ceiling. Express with both heels. If the low back feels tense, bend the left knee and place the foot on the floor. Hold it there for 3-5 minutes and then switch to the left for 3-5 minutes.
2. Twist with two knees
Lying on your back, bend your knees to your chest and bend your arms to a T. When you exhale, lower your knees to the ground on the right. Keep both shoulders firmly pressed down. When your left shoulder comes up, your knees keep further away from your right arm. Hold for 1-2 minutes on each side.
3. The Sphinx
Lying on your stomach, you focus, resting on your forearms. Make sure that your elbows are directly under your shoulders. Press firmly with your palms and the tips of your foot. Press your pubic bone forward. You will feel some sensations in your lower back but breathe through this. You let a bloodstream in the lower back for healing. Hold for 1-3 minutes.
4a. The pigeon
On your hands and feet, bring your right knee behind your right wrist with your lower leg diagonally to your left hip. Point your hips to the ground. Bend forward. Expand the space between the elbows and place one hand over the other like a pillow for your forehead. Hold for 2-3 minutes and then switch to the left for 2-3 minutes.
4b. Thread the needle
Lying on your back, bend both knees with your feet flat on the floor. Bend the right knee in the figure of the number four, with the outside of the left ankle to the right thigh. Lift the left foot into the air and bring the left spout parallel to the ground. Thread your right hand through the opening of the legs and fold your hands behind your left thigh. Hold for 2-3 minutes and repeat on the other side.
5. Legs on the wall
Slide your butt all the way against the wall and swing the feet against the wall. This posture is excellent for relaxing the muscles of the lower back and wicks moisture away from the feet and ankles. Do this pose after an intensive training and always after traveling by plane. Holds for 5-10 minutes.
The following exercises are simpler than the previous five. These are ideal for the elderly or people who suffer from pain due to (older) injuries or other health problems.
You can do these movements almost everywhere to strengthen your back and core and support your lower back. You can even do a fully functional training with these exercises, two to three times a week for 20 to 30 minutes per session.
Try to move by repeating the routine below and every exercise 2 to 4 times. To make sure that you get all the back strengthening benefits out of it, pay attention to your shape during every movement.
Also important: pull your belly during the exhale and breathe quietly. By pulling in your 'core muscles', you strengthen both your back and your abdominal muscles. And who knows, if you keep doing this consistently, then this will also show itself in a tight stomach!
6. Decompression Breathing
A little extra O2 can do a good body - especially if you extend the body at the same time! Use this exercise to teach yourself how to breathe deeply and keep your spine straight and strong at all times.
Stand with your toes together and your heels slightly apart. Move your weight to your heels, unlock your knees, gently pull your heels together. Stand up and stretch your arms over your head and press your fingertips together. When you breathe in, lift your chest away from the hips. When you exhale, tighten your core to support the elongated column. Repeat this breathing exercise until you feel long and supported.
7. The forward fold
Stretching your buttocks may feel embarrassing, but this movement is ideal for building an integrated back and strengthening your core. If a full exercise gives too much tension to your lower back, try a modified version with your hands behind your back. If you have tense hamstrings then use a prop (for example a chair) to bring the ground a bit closer to you. Remember - the goal is to strengthen a good movement pattern. Use props or adjust the entire movement if it helps you keep a neutral and stable spine.
Inhale and empower your arms forward, and stretch a leg backward, while keeping your hips back and pressing your fingertips together, pressing hard with the heals. Lift the arms slowly all the way up, and keep the core retracted to maintain a neutral backbone. Hold for 15 to 20 seconds.
Now let your hands float to the ground as you push the hips backward. Put your leg back on the ground and unlock your knees and keep the weight in your heels. When your hands are all the way down (or on a prop, for people with tense hamstrings), pull your hips back, up and away, your hands as far forward as possible as possible to balance. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds.
To get up, keep the weight on your heels, let your hands slide past your shins, and bring your spine back to a neutral position. Put your arms back up. Press the heels into the ground and bring your hips forward to stand up.
8. Stretch your back
This familiar exercise isolates some deeper muscles from the lower back. Add a little extra support from your inner thighs and some increased activity of the hamstrings, and you have a recipe for building strong back muscles just like a superhero.
Start on the floor, lying on your stomach. Bend your feet and close your legs together, just keep a small bend in the knees. Press the hips and knees into the ground and lift the elbows until your hands "float" above the ground. Pull your shoulders down to your buttocks as you lift the chest off the ground. Keep your neck long and hold the position for 20 to 30 seconds.
9. Plank
A plank with elbows and knees on the floor might sound easy, but it certainly is not. Get ready to focus a little more on your abdominal muscles to create a serious support for your spine.
Lie on your stomach with your feet bent, your knees touching each other, and the elbows a few inches in front of your shoulders. Pull your shoulders away from your ears, and press the knees and elbows to the midline of the body. Press the knees, toes, and elbows into the mat as you lift the hips to the height of the shoulders. Tighten the core and maintain a long neutral backbone. Pull the elbows and knees together (as if you are trying to bring the top and bottom of the mat together), and hold the plank for 20 to 30 seconds. If you start to shake, you do this well.
10. The Woodpecker
Named after the spicy little bird that bends forward as he hunts for food, this movement will strengthen both your glutes and your back.
From a standing position, press through your front heel and stand straight. Lift the back of the heel off the ground and reach for the heart in front of you. Push your buttocks back as far as possible as you can without moving your knee, until you get a stretching feeling in the hamstrings. Your arms will naturally reach further forward to stay in balance.
Tighten your core, keeping your spine in neutral, and slowly reach your arms over your head. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds and then repeat with the other heel.
Finally
Research shows that regular strengthening of the core and your back muscles can be effective in the long-term relief of chronic back pain. While sedentary and sedentary behaviors have shown that this in itself can pose a health risk - so next time you catch yourself sitting for an extended period of time, get up and do some decompression breathing exercises, or any of the other exercises described above. You give your body a break from sitting and you immediately work on muscles that support the spine.
Do you want to work naturally on your low back pain? With practice and minimal time spent, you can get a strong and supple back for a long time!
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