Among those who want to change their body shape, another common area of concern is back pain, particularly in the lower area. As a result, it limits your ability to do a number of activities that can aid in fat loss and improved body composition.
Aside from sudden injury or a genetic disorder, back pain is caused by a number of actions and habits that accumulate over time and give you severe discomfort and restriction later in your life. As you get older, the health of your back becomes more of a concern and people often leave it very late before deciding to do something about it.
So, how can you prevent this? What simple things can you do to relieve back pain and improve the quality of your life?
Posterior Chain Strength
Many people get aches and pains in their back because they are not strong enough in key areas of their body. It can be common for people to start training their abdominals because they want them to be more visible, but then often complain of lower back pain and are more susceptible to injury, especially when playing sport.
If your muscles are not strong, areas such as your lower back tend to take more of the workload in the positions you get into. As a result, most pains come from poor posture due to having a weak posterior chain (glutes, quads, hamstrings). So, training these muscles in isolation will strengthen them and reduce tightness will shift the pain away from areas, such as your lower back, that are unable to take the pressure being placed upon them.
Reduce Tightness
Another big reason why back pain occurs is due to tightness of the large muscle groups in your body, due to them being weak. This creates stress and tension in a number of areas, including the back, and this accumulates over time to create pain and discomfort. So, you alleviate this, you must start to train your three big lower body muscle groups, the quads, glutes, and hamstrings, in isolation to make them stronger, improve flexibility and reduce tightness in that area, which will then decrease back pain.
Improve Posture
Another common reason why you may be getting aches and pains is due to poor posture. This can stem from a number of things, such as your work, lifestyle and a lack of activity, to name a few. As a result, this can cause an overarching of the back and neck, leading to pain in both those areas, as well as others because it is a very unnatural position for the spine or neck to be in.
Poor posture is a very easy habit to fall into, and a lot of the time, you may not even know it is occurring. So, it is important to be aware of it and adopt strategies to help you overcome this issue. This includes sitting more upright at your desk, not looking directly down into your phone and pulling your shoulders back as much as you can when you walk. This all helps in developing better posture and therefore reducing any related aches or pains.
Improve Flexibility
This is another crucial area for reducing pain in your back. Many people are not flexible, particularly in their lower body as a result of not being strong or doing exercises that will improve balance, stability, and mobility. As a result, whenever you bend down or pick something up, you overarch your spine and place more strain on your back than you do on your legs.
So, along with using machines to build muscle and strength in key areas, you should also look to have a mobility exercise in your programme, this could be anything from a lunge, squat, or hinge movement. Working on these areas will build balance and stability in both legs and therefore take any stress away from your back and onto your legs.
Avoid Sedentary Lifestyle
Finally, you should look to be as active as you can during the day. Of course, this is dependent on the type of work you do on a daily basis, but staying sedentary for long periods is not going to be beneficial for the health of your lower back. Studies show that, by simply taking regular intervals of either standing up or walking around, you can relieve stress and improve posture. So, this does not mean you have to start running marathons – just simply aim to be on your feet more and you can find many benefits to the health of your back.
Summary
So, if you are someone who suffers from back pain on a regular basis, there are some simple strategies that you can implement to relieve this. These include, improving muscle and strength in your posterior chain, reducing tightness, fixing posture, improving flexibility, and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle. These simple changes will not only aid the health of your back, but also increase your chances of losing weight, body fat, and living a healthier, more energetic lifestyle.
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