How to strengthen your back muscles exercises. The most effective exercises to strengthen your back muscles
Human health depends 80% on the condition of the spine, or rather, on its health. A person's back is his Achilles heel. People remember her when she starts to get sick or stops functioning. By the age of 40, most people feel discomfort in the back and spine area. This causes many diseases.
The human spine constantly endures enormous loads. Due to excess loads, scoliosis, S-shaped curvature, osteochondrosis, pinching of blood vessels and nerve plexuses appear. The consequence of all these violations is a number of diseases:
- decreased visual acuity;
- numbness of the limbs;
- pinched muscles;
- headache;
- migraine;
- inflammation of the sciatic nerve;
- poor blood access to the extremities;
- cardiovascular diseases, other.
If you do not do exercises to strengthen your back muscles at home, they will weaken very quickly. This will cause certain areas of the spine to become too compressed and therefore the intervertebral discs to become inelastic.
The paravertebral zone of the intervertebral discs decreases and the proper amount of lubricant does not reach, the discs wear out and wear out. Congestion often occurs due to poor blood flow. Growths also appear - osteophytes or salt deposits. Very often, the development of the spinal muscles depends on a person’s lifestyle and worsens from sedentary work, or the presence of excess body weight, lack of abs, and most importantly, from laziness to do any exercises to strengthen the spinal muscles.
Those who regularly pay attention to their back health are less vulnerable to disease. They don’t get so tired and feel less back pain even after exercise.
In order to help your back, it is worth understanding the muscular structure of our body. On our back there are: the latissimus and trapezius dorsi muscles.
The latissimus dorsi muscle is located from the lower back and ends in the armpits, covering the entire area of the back. To train this muscle, one exercise will not be enough. This muscle builds the figure and helps the spine, taking half the load off of it.
The trapezius muscle is located at the top of the back and has the shape of a trapezoid. She is responsible for moving the arms, shoulders, neck and shoulder blades. The development of this muscle improves posture and vision, and relieves neck pain.
Strengthening these muscles will improve the general condition of a person, prevent diseases, normalize the functioning of intervertebral discs and make it easier to bear heavy loads.
Exercises to strengthen the back muscles prevent the appearance of deformed changes in the intervertebral discs. For a more accurate result, you should undergo an examination by a specialist doctor. Check the spine and undergo treatment if necessary. Also regularly do exercises at home or go to the gym.
Strengthening your back muscles at home
Home exercises are effective, but only if performed regularly. Exercises should be done no later than 5 hours before bedtime. During exercise there should be no sensations of pain in the joints and muscles. If they exist, they should gradually subside and then disappear altogether.
The load should be gradually increased. Before each exercise, you need to do a warm-up to warm up your muscles. It is very useful to do a warm-up before each hard work or other type of load.
Warming up helps improve blood flow to the muscles and also enriches them with oxygen. Muscle performance increases, the likelihood of muscle tearing decreases, thus making them more flexible.
Let's start with a warm-up
Each exercise should be performed in two sets, five times.
- Stand up straight, relax all your muscles, and take deep breaths and exhale. This promotes abstraction from the outside world.
- Tilt your head left, right, back and forward. Do the exercise slowly and smoothly.
- Circular exercises with shoulders forward and backward.
- Raising your shoulders up and down.
- Swing your arms up and down. Springy swings forward and back.
- Circular movements of the arms forward and backward.
- Swing your arms with a 180º body rotation.
- Circular movements with the reeds left and right.
- Bend forward. Bend over so that your fingertips touch the floor.
- Walking in place.
- Run in place.
- Bend back.
- Take a deep breath and raise both arms up at the same time. Exhale and lower your arms down.
A set of exercises to strengthen the back muscles
These exercises can gradually. To perform them you need a soft carpet or foam mattress. These exercises should be performed every day, 2 sets and 5 times. This will take approximately 30 minutes. And these 30 minutes will bring a lot of benefits. You need to take these exercises as a rule and do everything without fail.
Let's consider an approximate set of exercises:
- Lie on your stomach, put your arms along your body, and fold your legs straight. In this position, raise your head, looking into the distance, and hold for 10 seconds.
- Pronation. Raise your legs and shoulders as far as your back will allow and hold in this state for 15 seconds.
- Lying on your stomach, raise your head and legs at the same time.
- Lie on your back and bend your knees. Stretch your palms towards your knee joints.
- Lying position on your back. It is necessary for the right elbows to touch the left knee and vice versa. The second hand is on the floor.
- Lying on your back, simultaneously raise your leg and reach your knee with your elbow. Alternately change hands.
- Lie on your stomach, fix your legs, fold your hands behind your head. Arch your back as high as possible.
- Sit on the floor and cross your legs. Swing your arms: up and down to touch the floor with your hands.
- Kneeling position. Raise your right hand up, and move your left hand to the side and make circular movements. After 5 times change hands.
- Sit down, spread your legs shoulder-width apart, bend your arms at chest level. Next, straighten your arms without lowering them down. And lean forward. Bend over and stretch as deep as possible.
- Stand up straight and raise your arms up. Pull in your stomach. Gradually tilt until your fingertips touch the floor. And also gradually and slowly lift the body. This exercise stretches the entire spine. The main thing is to constantly keep your stomach pulled in.
- Standing position straight with your stomach pulled in. Bend forward, arching your back like a cat, and relax your arms.
- Standing on straight legs, bend your torso. When bending, raise your arms up and your head down. When lifting, straighten your arms in front of you.
- Standing position. Tighten your stomach, legs shoulder-width apart, lower your arms down along with your body and swing your arms in an inclined position so that your arms touch the floor as far behind you as possible. And then, on the contrary, touch the floor with your hands as far as possible in front of you.
- Get on your knees, with outstretched arms resting on the floor. Raise your pelvis onto your outstretched legs, transferring your body weight to your arms. And then return to the starting position.
- Lie on your stomach and put your hands under your head. Bend your forearms inward. Align your legs and do the swings one by one.
- Lie on your back and bend your knees, arms along your body. Raise your pelvis so that your pelvis, knees and torso are in line, and lower it down.
General exercises for the entire back have a great impact on posture. They make it stronger and smoother. These exercises are often called straightening exercises. They are also very important for people who have sedentary work.
These exercises help improve the functioning of the spine, strengthen the back muscles, and prevent the occurrence of intervertebral disc degeneration. With the help of these exercises, you can regulate the load on certain muscles, so that some are properly relaxed and others are properly strengthened. Let's look at some of them:
- Position: kneeling, arms straight. In this position, alternately raise your straight leg and extend your straight arm forward. The arm, leg and torso with the head should form a straight line. Hold in each position for three seconds. In subsequent times, you should increase the stand time from three seconds to 30 seconds.
- Stand up straight. Arms at chest level are bent at the elbows. Make torso turns with arm swings back.
- Stand on the bridge from a lying position. Bend as deeply as your back and spine will allow.
- Scatter a box of matches on the floor. Stand next to them and bend over each match. Lift with only two hands at a time. This simple exercise perfectly strengthens the lower back and sacral region.
Parting words!
To strengthen your back muscles, you don’t need any special expensive exercise equipment. Every person can improve their health at home. The main thing is patience and willpower. You shouldn’t give in to laziness, you need to fight against it for your beauty and health.
Video with exercises to strengthen back muscles
Video with a set of exercises for the back
Video about strengthening back muscles at home
Five of the most useful exercises to strengthen the spine.
Exercises to strengthen the spine. A person’s appearance, his gait, and the way he moves can say a lot about his health. When the spine is healthy, a person walks easily, freely, and does not feel his body. If alignment is disturbed, then this affects other functions of the body: the respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, and excretory systems suffer.
Many people suffer from headaches, they take medications to no avail, and the reason often lies in osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, when the arteries of the cervical vertebrae are additionally pinched and the brain is less well supplied with blood. By the way, vision also suffers from poor circulation.
Your Izyuminka has already written about how you can perform lightening exercises in the workplace to relieve tension in the cervical spine for those who, due to their line of work, have to sit for a long time at a desk and computer: Relieving gymnastics in the workplace .
Sedentary work affects not only the cervical spine, but also the lumbar spine; as a result, even radiculitis can worsen. You can watch gymnastics against radiculitis, which helps strengthen the lumbar spine Effective complex for radiculitis .
Only physical exercise will help strengthen and improve the overall health of the spine. When the vertebrae are normally stretched, the nerve endings are not compressed, the passage of nerve impulses to various organs and tissue nutrition improves. By performing these exercises, the spine lengthens and the muscles that support it in an already stretched state are strengthened. It’s not for nothing that they say: if you lengthen your spine, you lengthen your youth. In this article, Your Izvestina wants to present 5 of the most useful exercises for the spine, by regularly performing which you can work out and train all parts of the spine in a variety of ways - cervical, thoracic, and lumbar, strengthen the ligaments and muscles that support it. As a result, your posture will improve, your internal organs will become stronger, and you will begin to breathe correctly. In order for the process of healing the spine and all its parts to take place, these 5 exercises must be done regularly - daily or at least every other day. The floor surface should be flat and hard; for exercise you will need a mat, thin mattress or terry towel.
1 Exercise. Rifles
I.p. - sitting on the floor,
pull your legs towards your body, your feet should be pressed together. Wrap your hands around your legs at the ankles, pressing your chin to your knees. In this position, the back of the head, neck and back form one arc. Roll back onto your back and return to the starting position. Roll on your back 10 to 20 times, breathing randomly. Important: rolls should only be performed on a flat floor, so as not to displace the vertebrae.Effect: this is a very useful exercise for the spine - it strengthens the spine and develops flexibility, and thereby helps in the treatment of diseases such as rheumatism, brain diseases, and in addition the exercise strengthens memory .
After the exercise, relax a little and move on to the next one.
2 Exercise. Cobra
I.p. - lying on your stomach,
the face is lowered down, the heels and toes are connected, the chin rests on the mat.Place your hands on the floor and lift your upper torso as high as possible without lifting the lower half of your abdomen up to your navel. Throw your head back as far as you can, your eyes looking up. You need to breathe through your nose, randomly, then slowly return to the starting position. Repeat the exercise 5-10 times.
For those who can already easily do this exercise, here is a more complex version:
Perform all the movements as described above - bend up and back, and then turn your head over your right shoulder so that you can see the heel of your left foot. It is important that the arms and legs remain in place and the lower abdomen does not come off. Slowly turn your head forward and do the same, but turning your head over your left shoulder to see the heel of your right foot. Then bend up again, slowly throw your head back and return to the starting position, lower yourself down. Repeat the exercise, but following a different sequence of movements - up, left, right, up, down.
When performing this exercise, it is important to make smooth movements, stay in each position for half a minute, for this you can slowly count to yourself to 30.
Effect: the spine becomes more flexible, stoop and other curvatures of the spine are eliminated, beautiful posture appears, the functioning of the entire digestive tract improves, in particular, intestinal motility increases, and this is also good gymnastics for the eyes. With this exercise you can cure radiculitis.
3. Exercise. Triangle
I.p. - standing on the floor, spread your legs wide enough, the distance between your legs is about a meter. Stretch your arms to the sides, palms down. Slowly lean to the left until you feel tension in your right side. Strive to reach your left foot with your left hand, your right arm is extended horizontally above your head, do not bend your legs! Stay in this pose for 5-8 seconds and then return to the starting position. Do the same in the other direction - to the right. Perform 3-5 bends in each direction.
For the more advanced - a more complicated option, but very useful for the spine, since it strengthens the lumbar region and thereby treats radiculitis:
Take the same starting position as described above.
Slowly bend down while rotating at the waist, with your right hand moving towards your right leg until it touches it, your left hand raised up. The gaze is directed to the fingertips of the hand raised vertically upward. It is important to keep your legs and back straight during the exercise! Hold this pose for 5 seconds and return to the starting position.Repeat the bends in both directions at least 3 times.
As you can see, in this exercise in the lumbar region there is not only stretching, but also twisting, the vertebrae move more and this helps to relax the intervertebral discs. The lumbar region is better developed and at the same time strengthened.
Effect: The exercise strengthens the muscles that support the spine, its flexibility develops, in the first option the lateral surfaces of the body are stretched, which is good for the waist, and in the second option the lumbar spine is well worked out and strengthened.
4 Exercise. Onion
I.p. - lying on your stomach,
legs bent at the knees, extend your arms, place them behind your back and grab your ankles - inhale. Then, at the same time, slowly raise your head, legs, and torso as high as possible from the floor, throw your head back while holding your breath. Return to the starting position - exhale.This exercise also has a second option, for advanced ones, it is more difficult, but over time, you will be able to do it too:
Perform all the movements as described in the exercise above and then, while holding your breath, do 4-5 swings back and forth, return to the starting position, relax.
Effect: the exercise strengthens the gastrointestinal tract, forms a beautiful bust in women and strengthens the chest, and most importantly, it eliminates all deficiencies in the development of the spine.
5. Exercise. Fish
The exercise consists of two parts - the first is aimed at stretching the spine, and the second part consists of vibration exercises for the spine, as a result of which the intervertebral discs are worked out, the cells are cleansed of toxins, and blood circulation is normalized.
I.p. -lying on your back, arms outstretched raised and lying behind your head, legs straightened forward, toes pulled towards you. Begin to stretch your legs one at a time, moving your heels forward a little - first the left, then the right, slowly counting to yourself to 5.
Do a few of these nice, stretching movements. Then put your hands behind your head, under your neck, elbows on the floor, bring your legs together, pull your socks towards you. In this position, begin to oscillate left and right, like a fish in water. It is useful to do this exercise for 2-3 minutes in the morning and evening.Effect: the exercise helps to put individual vertebrae in place, eliminates scoliosis and other curvatures of the spine, enhances intestinal motility, and normalizes blood circulation.
You can include these exercises in your morning exercise routine. By regularly performing these exercises to strengthen the spine, in just a couple of weeks you will feel that its condition will improve significantly, the pain will go away, and it will become easier for you to bend and straighten when bending. In addition, you will acquire correct posture and breathing, and become more resilient.
Don't try to immediately perform the recommended number of repetitions; start small - with 2-3 repetitions of each exercise. Remember that all movements must be performed at a slow pace, fixing and holding in each position (start with 5 seconds and work up to 30 seconds) in order to make the muscles stronger and stronger, better able to support the spine. If your muscles hurt and feel tired the next day, reduce the number of repetitions, but do not stop doing the exercises. After a few sessions, muscle pain will go away as you become more trained.
Only daily work aimed at working out the main parts of the spine will help you cope with radiculitis, cervical osteochondrosis, and other spinal problems. Remember to spend at least half an hour a day to keep your spine in good condition. After all, beautiful posture, a flying gait, and the condition of all internal organs and systems in the human body depend on his health.
The human back is a rather vulnerable part of the body. Many people, from the age of 30, experience stiffness and stiffness in their back muscles, which can lead to many diseases.
The back needs to be trained so that part of the load from the spine is transferred to the muscle corset. Those who regularly pay attention to their back muscles improve their health and well-being, and their lower back pain disappears.
But before starting training, you need to consult a doctor and examine your spine.
The muscles on the back are no different from other muscles, so you should warm up well before starting the exercises.
To avoid pinched nerves and unpleasant consequences, it is worth stretching your spine before starting training.
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In addition to the fact that stretching is the basis for preparing muscles for any load, it is useful for women to do it for weight loss at home.
- After a short rest, you need to try to pull yourself up on the bar, then bend back and bend your legs. Do all movements without jerking, smoothly, focusing on the back muscles.
Exercises for scoliosis. Prevention and treatment
Scoliosis is a very common disease of the spine and is a curvature of posture.
It occurs due to the fact that during the day a person does not control the position of his back, sits incorrectly and hunches over. The older you are, the more difficult it is to fight scoliosis, so you need to monitor your posture from childhood.
Before starting any procedures to treat scoliosis, it is recommended to consult with an orthopedic doctor.
Exercises for scoliosis
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You should do the exercises every day - this will help straighten your posture and strengthen your entire back.
To get rid of back pain, it is necessary to create a so-called strong muscle corset around the spine. To do this, it is enough to regularly perform a simple home set of back exercises.
Strength exercises for the spine
- Lie on your stomach, put your legs together, put your left hand on the back of your head, and extend your right hand to the side. Stretch the back of your head upward as you lift your upper body. Do not lift your feet off the floor. Repeat 15-20 times. Repeat in the opposite direction after a short rest.
- A more complex variation of the previous exercise. Press your feet to the floor, place both hands on the back of your head. Try to lift your body up as much as possible. To start, 10 times are enough, then increase the number of repetitions to 15-20 times. It is advisable to do the first and second exercises without interruption.
- Get on all fours. Bring your right knee closer to your left elbow, round your back – exhale. Next, stretch your leg and arm as far as possible, bend over – inhale. You need to try not to sway and maintain balance with tense back muscles. Alternate leg and arm. Repeat no more than 10 times.
- The next exercise is performed lying on the couch with your stomach down. You need to lie down so that the upper half of your body lies on the couch, and your legs and pelvis hang down. Now, holding the sides of the couch, very slowly raise your closed legs until the line of your legs and torso becomes parallel to the floor. Keep your legs suspended for 4-5 seconds. Lower them smoothly and slowly. Repeat 8 times.
Exercises to strengthen all types of back muscles
Exercise “Strong back”
It strengthens the back muscles and is a good prevention of spinal diseases. Lie on the mat with a flat cushion under your lower back. Bend your legs slightly at the knees and spread them hip-width apart. Now you need to forcefully point your toes towards you, while simultaneously pressing your heels onto the floor. Bend your elbows slightly, tense your hands and turn towards your shoulders.
The back of your head needs to be lifted off the floor and your chin pulled towards your chest as much as possible. At the same time, there will be a feeling of muscle stretching along the cervical region and throughout the spine. Hold this position for a few seconds, then lie down and relax.
Development of back and abdominal muscles
You will need a bodybar with two 1 kg discs. Sit on the floor, place your feet on it, bend your knees. Take the bodybar and, bending your elbows, hold it at chest level. Then slowly lean back until you feel your abdominal tension.
Turn the bodybar so that its right end follows the right knee and is at the level of the right hip. This movement is similar to rowing. Do the same on the other side.
Strengthening the muscles of the back, chest and shoulders
Lie with your back on the fitball. Hold dumbbells in front of you. Feet on the floor with knees at right angles, hips slightly raised. Now slowly move your hands to the sides and connect them in front again.
Exercises with dumbbells for the back
These simple exercises can be done at home. You need to prepare dumbbells with replaceable weights, as well as a fitball.
- Lying on the floor with your stomach down, stretch your arms forward with dumbbells. Then slightly raise them above the floor and move them back, as when swimming. Lift your legs slightly up off the floor. Return your hands forward. Repeat 10-15 times.
- Stand up straight. Tilt your body forward so that it is parallel to the floor. Dumbbells lie in your hands, slightly bent at the elbows. Now you need to pull your arms up and spread them to the sides. At the same time, the blades work. Elbows may be slightly bent. This exercise will strengthen the interscapular area.
- The exercise is performed like the previous one, only with each hand in turn. You will need support in the form of a chair or bench. Place your hand and knee on the bench. Hold a dumbbell in your other hand. It needs to be pulled towards the shoulder without moving the elbow to the side. This works the latissimus and middle back muscles.
- Stand up straight, dumbbells in your hands. Slowly pull your shoulders up and slowly lower them. There is no need to raise or strain your arms. Only the muscles of the neck and back work.
- The most effective exercise at home can be done using a fitball. You need to place the ball close to the wall and lie on your stomach on it, resting your feet against the wall. Raise and lower the body, as when performing hyperextension. The back muscles at the lowest point should not relax. To make the exercise more difficult, raise your legs higher. In addition to the back muscles, the buttocks and hamstrings work.
Barbell training is just as effective for working out your back as dumbbell training. However, you should remember safety precautions. You need to start with light weights and gradually increase the load.
Before exercise, warm up and stretch your muscles slightly. To do this, you can hang on the horizontal bar, do squats and go for a run.
Basic exercise for back muscles
Stand up straight with your knees slightly bent. Pull the barbell towards your stomach, while squeezing your shoulder blades together. Then slowly lower the barbell. First repeat 10 times, then 15.Deadlift exercise
Stand up straight, barbell in your hands. With a straight back, slowly lower your body down so that it is parallel to the floor and lift it up. The knees are bent. If the lower back is very rounded, then you can not go very low.Bend forward with a barbell
Stand up straight, the barbell lies on your shoulders, support it with your hands. With a straight back, lean forward and slowly return to the starting position. You should not allow a strong rounding of the lower back. If this happens, you should not bend very low.
Conclusion
Perform the complex up to three times a week. At the end of the workout, you need to relax your back. To do this, lie with your back on a gymnastic ball and roll back and forth.
By performing this complex, your back will become strong and healthy, and your posture will be straight and correct. The muscle corset will also strengthen and your well-being will improve.
Video on how to properly pump up your back
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You can also perform exercises for the back muscles at home, because they are so important. The entire human body is supported by the spine, so it needs to be given special attention. It is recommended to start performing a set of exercises to develop and strengthen back muscle groups from childhood.
There is an opinion that exercises to strengthen the back muscles at home do not give the same effect that can be achieved in the gym. Of course, without special equipment, proper nutrition and a number of other factors, it is difficult to pump up muscles to the level of a professional, but if you wish, you can get good results at home.
A review of effective exercises for strengthening muscles will help you understand their effectiveness and necessity for every person. The article lists several good exercises, thanks to which any novice athlete will soon be able to enjoy amazing results:
- strong back;
- weight loss;
- formation of a V-shape.
Home workouts
At home, exercises to strengthen the back muscles can be quite effective, as has been proven by a considerable number of examples. When working out in the gym, a person has the opportunity to work with free weights, gradually increasing them, but this applies more to experienced athletes who have been training for more than two years. At home, as a rule, beginners practice. They do not need to work with heavy weights. Therefore, performing exercises for the back muscles at home is the best solution for them. Thanks to a simple workout performed daily, a novice athlete will be able to get a pumped-up back and a chic silhouette, which applies to both men and women.
Recommendations for exercises to strengthen the back muscles will make it possible to achieve significant results at home, even for those athletes who have not previously played sports. Before starting training, you need to understand the following nuances:
- You need to exercise regularly, but no more than a couple of times a week. This option is the most optimal, since less training will not be enough to get a good result. If you perform exercises more than twice every 7 days, then you should not expect any effect from them, because the muscles simply will not have time to recover.
- From the very beginning until each tense area is felt, each exercise should be performed in 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions. When the above skill has been acquired, it is allowed to move on to “to failure” training, in which the approaches are performed exactly as much as is possible and an additional couple of repetitions.
- It is forbidden to start training immediately with strength exercises, because this can lead to injury. Not a single lesson should be complete without a preparatory stage, that is, warming up the muscles and warming up the joints.
- To get the best results, it is best to alternate workouts. This will be advisable for the reason that the muscles are able to get used to the nature of the load.
- It is recommended to start the training with a couple of basic exercises, and end with one or two isolating exercises, where only one muscle is involved.
Exercises for osteochondrosis and scoliosis
If you have any spinal problems, you can also turn to the best back exercises. It is not difficult to do them at home. In addition, they will be useful for all people, regardless of gender and age. The complex will not only help you quickly cope with the problem, but also strengthen your muscles.
For the cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions with osteochondrosis, the following exercises must be performed:
- Having clasped in front of you, you should lower your head down as much as possible, and then press with your hands for 10 seconds on the back of your head and temples.
- Shrug your shoulders at a fast pace, trying to raise them to your ears and lower them as low as possible. You need to perform the exercise for 30 seconds.
- With your back pressed against the wall and your arms down, you need to lean alternately to the sides. You need to do it 10 times in each direction.
- bend your back at the waist, raise your head and hold in this position for about 2-3 seconds. Then you need to lower your thoracic region and arch your back. It is recommended to perform up to 15 repetitions in total.
- Lying flat on your back, you need to pull your toes towards you, and then relax and tense up again. This should be done at least 3 times.
Scoliosis of the first and second degrees is easily corrected by performing exercises for the back muscles at home at any age. It is recommended to perform them slowly and without additional weights. The complex includes the following exercises:
- Lying on your back, slightly raise your straight legs and vigorously move them crosswise horizontally and then vertically for 30 seconds.
- Standing on all fours, stretch one arm forward and the opposite leg back, then return to the starting position. It is best to repeat 10-12 times on each side.
- Lying on your back, tightly clasp your bent legs with your hands and perform 3-5 rolls back and forth.
- Walk on your heels for 15 seconds and then on your toes. Your hands should be clasped behind you and your back should be straight.
If desired, these exercises can be used as warm-up exercises before the main workout.
How to strengthen the muscle groups of the back?
In addition to the above complexes, there are some other effective exercises for the back muscles at home. All of them are aimed not only at developing muscles, but also at improving posture and eliminating pain. The best of them are detailed below.
Hip bridge
The first effective exercise is the hip bridge. It is done quite simply. The first step is to lie on your back (on a hard surface), bend your legs and press your hands onto the floor. Immediately after this, you need to raise your pelvis, resting your feet on the floor. As soon as your knees, shoulders and pelvis are aligned, you need to relax and return to the starting position.
You need to repeat this exercise about 10-12 times. It helps stretch your thigh muscles and strengthen your abs. If desired, you can make the bridge more difficult by straightening one leg and resting on the floor with only one leg and shoulders throughout the entire approach.
"Dog and Bird"
Answering the question of how to strengthen your back muscles at home, many experts recommend performing an interesting exercise called “Dog and Bird”. It is done by both beginners and experienced athletes, as it is truly effective.
Standing on all fours, you should move your elbow to the opposite knee, and then extend this arm (beak) forward and the leg (bird's tail) back. While straightening the limbs, the whole body should be as tense as possible. After holding at the top point for about 10 seconds, you should relax and return to the starting position.
You need to perform the exercise 5-6 times. Thanks to it, you can speed up your metabolism and improve the tone of the whole body.
Side plank
Everyone's favorite exercise, which forces several muscle groups to work, is especially popular with girls. It allows you to test your endurance and get incredible results.
Deadlift
Many people think that this exercise can only be performed in the gym, since it requires additional equipment. In fact, it is available for people practicing at home. To perform this you will need to take a barbell, dumbbells or just bottles of sand or water.
First, you should take the correct starting position: your feet are shoulder-width apart, your back is lowered parallel to the floor, and your arms are lowered with the projectiles down. In this case, the pelvis should be moved back a little so that the spine remains level. As you exhale, you need to stand up straight, pressing your hands with weights to your hips. Then you need to inhale and return to the starting position. It is not recommended to linger at the bottom point.
Deadlifts are performed in 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions. It forces not only several muscle groups of the back to work, but also the hamstring muscle. If desired, additional weight can be gradually increased.
Keeping your legs static
The favorite exercise of men and women is performed in a horizontal position and without additional weights. At first glance it may seem easy, although after the fifth or sixth repetition this opinion will change.
Lying on your back, you should put your hands behind your head and raise your straight legs so that they are perpendicular to the floor. As you exhale, you need to lift your head and shoulder blades off the floor, and as you inhale, return to the starting position.
The exercise should be done 12 times per approach. Thanks to it, the spine is straightened, the abs are pumped and the back muscles are strengthened.
Set of exercises
Many novice athletes want to understand how the latissimus dorsi muscle is worked. Exercises at home in this case help to work the entire back so that weak muscles work without the help of strong ones. This complex is designed specifically to work this muscle and obtain maximum effect.
The first effective exercise is the dumbbell row. It should be done like this:
- Legs together, knees slightly bent, lower back arched, body lowered 90 degrees, arms with dumbbells lowered to the floor.
- The dumbbells smoothly rise up, bending your elbows until your shoulder blades come together.
- Hands with projectiles slowly return to their original position.
In addition to these exercises, you can also perform classic pull-ups at home. When performing them, your palms should be positioned slightly wider than your shoulders. You need to pull yourself up so that at the top point your chin becomes parallel to the bar. Once this position is achieved, you need to lower yourself down, fully straightening your joints.
You need to complete your workout with one isolation exercise. This should be done with dumbbell rows. To do this, you need to stand so that one leg is straightened, and the other rests on the plane with a bent knee. Then you should take a dumbbell in your hand from the side of your straight leg and lift it up, bending your elbow. Lifting the equipment should be carried out in the same plane with the body until maximum muscle contraction. Immediately after this you need to return to the starting position without lingering at the top point.
The lumbar spine supports most of the body. Approximately 80% of adults experience low back pain at some point in their lives. Muscle atrophy caused by a sedentary lifestyle is common, especially if you work in an office and lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle. To strengthen your lower back, start with a regular exercise program that includes strength training, stretching, and aerobic or cardiovascular exercise.
Steps
Do exercises to strengthen your back
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Bridge your hips. Hip bridges also help strengthen the lower back and core muscles that support the spine, leading to a reduced risk of lower back pain. For this exercise, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, just like you would for a pelvic squeeze.
- Lift your hips toward the ceiling, keep your knees bent, and engage your core. Stop when your hips are level with your knees so that you can draw a straight line (or bridge) from your knees to your shoulders.
- Hold the position for 5-10 seconds, breathing deeply, then lower to the floor. Perform 10 repetitions.
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Do the "Floor Swimming" exercise. For this exercise, also known as "Superman", you need to lie on the floor, face down, legs extended back and arms in front of your head.
- If you are already lying on your back, roll over onto your stomach. Raise your arms above your head and stretch your legs behind you.
- Raise your legs a few centimeters, and then take turns doing swings. You can also raise your left leg and right arm at the same time, then lower them and raise your right leg and left arm.
- Do 10 to 20 repetitions.
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Squeeze your pelvic muscles. This exercise helps strengthen the muscles at the base of your abdominal cavity, as well as the muscles around your lower back. Learning to contract these muscles will help strengthen them so that you are less prone to lower back problems.
- To perform this exercise, lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Your feet should be approximately hip-width apart.
- Press the arch of your lower back toward the floor and hold for 5-10 seconds, breathing deeply, then lower yourself. Do 10 repetitions of this exercise.
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Hunting dog pose. Hunting dog pose helps stretch and strengthen the lower back and improve balance. When starting this exercise, get on all fours, knees directly under your hips, wrists under your shoulders.
- Extend your left arm forward and your right leg back, making a straight line from your toes to your heel. Keep your back straight, hold for two to three seconds, then return to the starting position and do the same with the other side.
- Do 10 to 20 repetitions of this exercise on each side. Keep your back straight and still, and do not raise your head or heel higher than your back.
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Add lunges. Lunges, when performed correctly, are an excellent exercise for strengthening the lower back. To start, stand with your feet approximately hip-width apart. Make sure there are a few tens of centimeters of space in front of you.
- Step forward with your right foot, lowering and bending your left knee. There should be a straight line from the top of your head to your left knee - do not lean forward towards your right leg. Bend your left knee at a right angle so that your knee is directly above your ankle and your thigh is parallel to the floor.
- Hold the lunge for a few seconds, then return to the starting position and repeat with your left foot in front. Perform 5 to 10 repetitions on each side.
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Engage your core as you perform a plank. Since the lower back muscles are part of the abdominal muscles of the torso, you cannot strengthen your lower back without focusing on your core muscles.
- Lie on your stomach and stretch your legs behind you. Rise up using your hands and toes so that there is a straight line from the top of your head to your toes.
- If you haven't done a plank before, you can modify the exercise by doing it from your knees and elbows, or toes and elbows, so that your upper body rests on your forearms instead of your wrists.
- Side planks work the side muscles of the core. Rise up onto your forearm, ankles on top of each other. Make sure your elbow is directly under your shoulder.
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Use a stability ball to increase the difficulty. With a little practice, this exercise won't be so difficult anymore. The exercise ball adds an element of balance, which makes the muscles work harder.
- For example, if you place your feet on an exercise ball to do a bridge, both performing the exercise and maintaining the position will become much more difficult.
Stretch your lower back
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"Cat-cow" for warming up. The cat-cow exercise is taken from yoga and involves changing the position from "cat" to "cow" while synchronizing movements and breathing. If you do the cat-cow exercise regularly, it will make your spine more flexible.
- To begin, get on all fours with your back straight. Your wrists should be directly under your shoulders and your knees should be directly under your hips.
- As you inhale, lower your belly toward the floor and lift your chest and pelvis toward the ceiling so that your back arches into a cow position.
- As you exhale, round your back toward the ceiling, tucking your tailbone and lowering your chin toward your chest. Repeat this cycle of inhalation and exhalation 10 to 20 times. Breathe slowly and deeply, in through your nose and out through your mouth.
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Increase blood flow with Sphinx pose. Sphinx pose helps increase blood flow to the lower back, which helps heal lower back problems and build muscle. To start, lie on your stomach with your legs extended behind you.
- Rise up on your forearms, elbows directly under your shoulders. Press your feet and palms into the floor, pressing against your pubic bone until you feel your lower back muscles engage.
- Hold the position for 1-3 minutes, inhaling deeply through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.
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Stretch your hamstrings by doing downward-facing dog. Downward-facing dog is a classic yoga pose that stretches the entire body and provides mental peace and improved concentration. Stretching the hamstrings, in particular, helps strengthen the lower back.
- Get on all fours on the mat, knees directly under your hips. The wrists can be directly under the shoulders or slightly in front. Focus on your breathing, inhaling slowly and deeply through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.
- As you exhale, lift your hips toward the ceiling, straightening your arms in front of you until your body forms an inverted “V.” The shoulders are rounded, the neck is relaxed.
- Inhaling, push your hips even higher toward the ceiling, shifting the weight from your wrists to your hands. On your next exhale, focus on your legs, reaching down toward your heels to stretch your hamstrings. Continue to remain in this pose for 10-20 cycles of inhalation and exhalation, then lower back to all fours.
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Do a knee crunch. Twisting the knees effectively stretches and strengthens your entire core and lower back, while rotating movements activate and strengthen your spine. First, lie on your back on the mat, straighten your legs.
- Extend your arms out to the sides from your shoulders so that your body forms a "T" on the floor. Then bend your knees towards your chest.
- As you exhale, lower your knees to the right on the floor, your shoulders should be pressed to the mat, that is, you are twisting from the lower back.
- Inhale and bring your legs back to center, then on your next exhale, lower your knees to the left. Repeat 5-10 times in each direction.
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Lie down in child's pose. Child's Pose is a classic yoga pose at the end of classes, which also gives a good stretch for the lower back. You can get into this position from all fours - simply lower your hips back and rest your torso on your thighs, with your arms extended in front of you.
- If you are flexible enough, you can rest your forehead on the mat. But you should not bend further than the line that is comfortable for you.
- You may find this pose more comfortable if you open your knees slightly.
- Since child's pose is meant for rest, you can lie there for as long as you want, breathing deeply.
Do aerobic exercise
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Go for walks regularly. Walking is an easy and inexpensive way to get active. Taking short walks of 15-20 minutes most days of the week will help strengthen both your lower back and your overall body.
- Try going for walks with a friend, this will motivate you and make your walks more enjoyable. If you're walking alone, you can listen to music, a podcast, or an audiobook.
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Ride your bike. If your lower back pain is so severe that you find it easier to sit rather than stand, cycling is a good option for cardiovascular exercise. An indoor exercise bike will be a better option than riding on bumpy, uneven terrain.
- Cycling has less impact on joints, strengthens the legs, hips, lower back, and at the same time is a good workout for the cardiovascular system.
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- Swimming is low-impact and the water keeps you hydrated, making it a great activity if you have joint problems or are overweight.
- If swimming is new to you, start slowly with 10-minute swims. Every week or so, increase your time in the water by five minutes each time until you're swimming for half an hour each session.
- If swimming isn't your thing, walking or jogging in the water provides some resistance, which helps strengthen your legs and lower back without having to worry about breathing.
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Buy a pedometer. You should try to walk at least 10,000 steps throughout the day. A pedometer attached to your belt measures your steps. Some models also connect to the internet and have apps that let you track your progress over time.
- Choose an easy-to-use pedometer that will help you reach your goals. You can purchase a very simple model or one with many additional functions.
- If being active is new to you, start by setting small goals and working towards 10,000 steps. Incorporate walking breaks into your daily routine, such as parking away from the entrance when shopping or taking the stairs instead of using the elevator.
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Maintain an active lifestyle. Sitting for long periods of time can lead to atrophy of the lower back muscles. Preventing this is simple - get up and walk around every 30 minutes or so. If possible, try to reduce the total number of hours you spend sitting.
- For example, if you sit most of the time at work, try doing something while standing when you get home instead of slumping on the couch and watching TV.
- You can also purchase (or ask your boss to purchase) a standing desk so that you can stand for periods of time during the workday.
Warnings
- If you already have lower back pain, talk to your doctor before trying any back strengthening exercises. Your physical therapist may prescribe specific exercises to help relieve your pain without making your injury or disease worse.