16 million adults every year deal with some sort of back pain whether it's from an injury, muscle imbalances, and or muscle weakness. However, there is a way to make your back more resilient and make yourself less susceptible to back issues.
Training
the glutes is the secret. The glutes are involved with a lot of functions in the lower body including pelvic stability. Usually people that have underactive glutes are also the same people who constantly struggle with low back pain or tightness. This is because
the low back muscles including the lower erector spinae and quadratus lumborum can start to become overactive/overused as a result of the glutes not being able to stabilize and perform movements of that they are supposed to.
Strong Glutes = Strong Lower Back
So what exercises should you do??
Some of my favorites include:
-Glute
Bridges (single or both legs)
-Mini
Band Squats (weighted or unweighted)
-Lateral Squat Walks
-Mini Band monster walks
-Reverse Hypers (weighted or unweighted)
-Bird Dogs
Start with 3 sets of each at low reps to focus on activating the right muscles and progress by either adding resistance or repetitions! As your glutes get stronger, you will notice that your lower back will feel stable and you won’t get that “tightness” that lots of people get during activities that require you to bend over (especially shoveling)! Give those exercises a try and let me know how you do.
Coach
Evan