In this day and age, lower back pain has become a widespread problem for men and women, and it can cause discomfort, tightness and even pain. It can significantly affect your daily life, such as sleeping, capacity to perform activities you enjoy, and overall ability to function.

Lower back pain can be an excruciating experience. However, you don’t have to live with pain! In this blog article, we have created a list of our favourite lower back pain exercises. We believe that exercising and staying active is the best way to treat and manage lower back pain!

Core Stability

Core stability Exercise refers to controlling the muscle groups required to prevent lower back pain and keep the spine functionally stable. It is essential to have a stable core to prevent injuries and to perform well during sports and other activities.

The McGill big 3 is a series of exercises in which was created by Dr. Stuart McGill, undergoing extensive research to rehabilitate back injuries. He determined that these three exercises will be helpful in stabilizing the trunk musculature in all directions of movement, providing stability in the most efficient manner. For those experiencing persistent back pain, this may be a helpful tool in recruiting the trunk stabilizers and providing strengthening in all directions of movement.

In order for these exercises to be effective, you must also be able to have the sensation of “bracing” your core! Here’s a quick tip: have your hands on your belly, do a quick sniff. Do you feel your stomach push into your hand? Try to maintain that contraction!

The McGill big 3 exercises include:

• • Curl up

• • Side plank

• • Bird Dog

Curl Up Exercise

• • Lie flat on your back.

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• • Bent one knee and keep the other straight.

• • Sitting on your hands with elbow bent, brace core.

• • Lift head slightly and feel the anterior region of the trunk engage. Hold for 5-8 seconds then relax.

• • Repeat for 8-10 repetitions.

Side Plank Exercise

• • Lay down on your side with knees bent and elbow propped up under your shoulder.

• • “Push” the floor away to feel the shoulder engage, making it an active position of stability.

• • With your other hand on your hip, brace the core then lift your hip off the floor. Your weight should be supported by your elbow and knees. Tip: ensure that from the head down to the knee is a straight line!

• • Hold for 5-8 seconds and repeat for 8-10 repetitions.n

Bird Dog Exercise

• • Starting in a 4-point kneeling position, ensure hands are under the shoulders and knees are under the hips. Hands are shoulder width apart and knees are hip width apart

• • Maintaining neutral spine position, brace core and raise the opposite arm and leg until level with your body.

• • Hold that tension for 5-8 seconds!

• • In a controlled and slow manner, return the arm and hand back to the starting position. Repeat with opposite arm and leg

• • Repeat this exercise 8-10 repetitions

Conclusion

We hope this brief article has given you some insight into our take on how to get rid of lower back pain. At Train with Purpose, we understand that every case of back pain is different, however more often than not, movement, exercise, and stability is not only helpful in providing some symptom relief, but also making the body robust to our own daily stressors. In addition, these exercises can also come with variations depending on your ability or level of symptoms, so safety is always an important factor. If you are continuing to experience persistent back pain after these exercises, it may be possible that you will benefit from further assessment and more individualized treatment. Therefore, be sure to reach out to one of our movement specialists to get rid of your lower back pain once and for all!