Strengthening Your Core
The most common source of pain for Americans is lower back pain, and your core muscles are the key to avoiding that achy feeling.
Does this sound familiar? You sneeze or you’re bending over a sink brushing your teeth, and you feel a twinge that incapacitates you for the next few days. Yes, you could have ruptured a disc, but more than likely, you’ve strained your lower back muscles. Stretching and strengthening your core can help with that. There are dozens of exercises you can do, but here’s where to begin.
Strengthen the Abdominals
The abdominal muscles get weaker as we get older unless they are trained regularly. While the exercise is often criticized, the old-fashioned curl-ups, also known as crunches, can strengthen most of those muscles. There are two keys to the exercise. First, bend your knees; that forces your lower back into the floor, which helps stretch those tiny muscles in the lower back. Second, with your arms folded across your chest, raise up just enough so your shoulder blades lift off the floor. That’s all the movement you need.
The problem for many people will be two-fold. Your belly may get in the way. Second, you may not be able to get down and up again off the floor. If either of those happen, begin by sitting in a hardback chair. Force your back into the chair and contract your abdominal muscles, sort of like you’re sucking your belly in for a photo. Hold for 2–3 seconds, then relax. You’ll also be contracting the muscles within the pelvis, which is also good for the abs.
Work up to 25 reps and start adding more sets until you can do 100 total. Do them over the course of the day or all at once.
Stretch the Hips and Back
I originally wrote this to deal with hip pain caused by the piriformis muscle, but it’s a basic hip-back stretch. This one is simple—you can do it sitting down. Sit in a straight-backed chair with both feet on the ground. Take your right foot and place it on your left knee. If you viewed it from above, it would look like a figure 4. What if you can’t get your foot on top of your knee because you’re not flexible enough? Cross it anywhere along the lower leg that works, even if you just cross your ankles.
Slowly lean forward until you feel the stretch in your butt and lower back. No bouncing! Just lean forward, gently but firmly, and hold for 15–30 seconds. Then with your hands on your thighs, push your upper body upright; that relieves the pressure on your lower back. Repeat with the other foot to knee. Do that 2–3 times per day, every day until you work up to 10 reps. That will loosen up that piriformis muscle as well as other hip flexors, but most important, it will stretch your lower back.
The Bottom Line
All this seems pretty simple. There are dozens more exercises you can do, but your legs and your core help you move, help with balance, and improve posture. Start here until you can do them five days a week. When you can do more, such as modified planks or leg lifts, that’s great, but you have to start somewhere and this is the start.
Don’t forget to sign up for next Sunday’s webinar on The Keys to Weight Loss. I address the five big concerns that people need help with when using a non-pharmaceutical attempt to lose weight. You don’t want to miss it!
What are you prepared to do today?
