Let’s talk about exercise and back pain…
Last week I had a question asked by one of our patients, Jane, 58, from Lake Charles…
And it’s one that we get asked often:
“Is it ok to exercise when my back is hurting? I’ve just got into a good routine sticking to the gym and working out three times a week, and I really don’t want to stop…”
I get the frustration, and I also know that the thought of doing any movement at all when you’re going through some kind of pain might feel a little scary…
You don’t want to run the risk of aggravating it any more in case it turns into something more serious.
You don’t want to go ‘too hard’ in the gym in case you pull another muscle.
You don’t want to wake up one day to find that you can no longer roll out of bed easily, walk down the road, or even drive because what you did, made it worse.
But, don’t let that worry you too much – that’s rarely ever the case!
An aching lower back doesn’t mean you’ve got to stay at home, with heat and ice packs until it magically disappears.
You CAN keep moving! In fact, not moving at all can make your back pain worse!
Here’s why…
If you suffer from lower back pain that comes and goes, gentle walking with exercises designed to improve lower back strength and movement added in will make a big difference.
Walking is a completely natural movement that keeps your joints mobile and muscles working – even those in your feet, legs, hips and torso – which play an important role in keeping the muscles in your back that hold you up right, strong.
Stretching combined with walking will improve your back strength, flexibility and posture, which in turn, can help stop back pain from creeping up on you when you least expect it. What’s more, it can also reduce how painful it feels and how much it gets in the way of day-to-day life.
So, here’s the important question to answer now that you know it is 100% ok to exercise even if you’ve got a bad back…
What exercise can you actually be doing? Because of course, too much exercise, or exercise that to strenuous could make it worse or keep it hanging around longer.
The good news is that you can continue to do you current exercise routine, but you may need to a made a few small modifications.
The one thing to remember is that you NEVER want to do anything that reproduces your back pain. If you continue to do exercises that same old way that causes pain, you will never allow yourself a chance to heal.
If you are unsure of what exercises to do or how to modify your program WE CAN HELP! Our job is to help you move better and get stronger!
If you want tips for easing back pain you can request our free special report with 9 top tips to keep active with less back pain: