The 12 Best Exercises to Strengthen the Lumbar

More than 80 percent of adults complain of low back pain. This all too common affliction generally begins as mild, dull, or sharp pain, and affects men and women alike.

Fortunately, most cases rarely last more than a few days and generally respond well to home treatment. However, low back pain that does not go away in that time period is classified as subacute, meaning it lasts 4 to 12 weeks, or chronic (lasting 12 weeks or more).

Best Exercises to Strengthen the Lumbar

Possible causes of low back pain

To avoid becoming disabled by low back pain, it is important to understand where and how it originates. The most common risk factors include:

  • Aging: Adults between the ages of 30 and 50 have a higher risk of low back pain than younger or older people.
  • Too little exercise: Weak back and abdominal muscles may not adequately support the spine.
  • Pregnancy: Pelvic changes and weight fluctuations cause stress on the back.
  • Weight gain: Obesity taxes the spine and can cause pain.
  • Genetic conditions : Ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis, can fuse the joints of the spine, causing some immobility.
  • Occupational Risk Factors : Jobs that require heavy lifting, pushing, pulling, or twisting of the spine, as well as sedentary desk jobs, can lead to back pain.
  • Mental health factors: Anxiety, depression, and stress can affect the body in many ways, including muscle tension.

Although some of these causes, such as genetics, are impossible to change, others (such as levels of physical activity) are easy to correct and should help you avoid being left out of injury.

Why is strengthening your lower back so important?

Even if you don’t have any of the above risk factors, you may still experience lower back pain. If that’s the case, it’s likely the result of muscle weakness, and that weakness can lead to:

  • Tense muscles
  • Column and disc compression
  • Stiffness of the vertebrae
  • Reduced mobility of facet joints (spinal joints that help you bend and twist)
  • Shortening of muscles in front of the hips and behind the knees

The best exercises for lumbar

Since low back pain is so common, there are several known treatment options to try. To start with, here are some exercises that should ease some discomfort and may even help prevent injury.

Forearm iron

  • Lie on your stomach with your forearms tucked under your chest.
  • Keep your body in a straight line from head to toe as you push upward, balancing your toes and forearms.
  • Keep your core engaged and don’t allow your lower back to sag.
  • Hold for 20 to 30 seconds and repeat twice more.

Trunk extension stretch

  • Lie on your stomach with your hands next to your shoulders.
  • Press your chest to the floor, arch your upper back as much as you can comfortably, and look up at the ceiling.
  • Hold for five seconds.
  • Do two sets of 10 repetitions.

Supine running

  • Lie on your back, with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
  • Allow your elbows to rest at your sides and place your hands in front of your pelvis.
  • Contract your deep muscles and lift one foot off the ground so that your leg is at a 90-degree angle and your shin is parallel to the floor.
  • Hold for five seconds before returning your foot to the starting position.
  • Perform two sets of 10 repetitions on each leg.

Side hip abduction

  • Lie on your left side, with your right leg straight and your left leg bent so that your foot is behind you.
  • Bend your left arm to support your head.
  • Raise your right leg, keeping it straight, and don’t allow your back to arch.
  • Hold for five seconds.
  • Do two sets of 10 repetitions on each side.

Pelvic tilt

  • Lie on your back with your arms crossed over your chest.
  • Bend your knees so that your feet are flat on the floor and your lower back is in a natural curve.
  • Lift your lower back off the floor and hold it down for five seconds.
  • Relax and press the small of your back towards the floor, keeping all the movement in your hips.
  • Do two sets of 10 repetitions.

Cobra prone

  • Lie on your stomach with your arms at your sides and your hands down.
  • Raise your head and chest several inches off the ground, keeping your chin slightly bent and your elbows bent.
  • Hold for five seconds.
  • Do two sets of 10 repetitions.

Can Vertebra 5 (L5) be trained?

No, you can’t exercise a vertebra, but you can strengthen the muscles around the fifth lumbar vertebra to decrease the likelihood that it will lose integrity and cause pain. When you strengthen the muscle to support the fifth, you reduce the demands on this part of your spine. The fifth vertebra suffers less impact and stress on a daily basis.

A strong core supports the lumbar spine , so basic exercises can help. Improving flexibility in your back muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps improve your range of motion in your lower back, including the L5 vertebra. Aerobic exercise increases the supply of nutrients and blood flow to the lower back, healing the area around the fifth lumbar vertebra.

Princeton University claims that combining core strengthening with lumbar strengthening and flexibility exercises can reduce low back pain and improve function. It can be part of a preventive and recovery program. The exercises that we recommend you include in your workouts are the following:

Cat and cow

  • Get down on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
  • The belly falls downwards while raising the chest and the coccyx (cow).
  • Arch your spine, tuck in your chin, and tuck your tailbone (cat).
  • Repeat five to 10 times.

Hip flexor stretch

  • Get on your knees with your right foot forward and your left knee on a mat or towel.
  • Place your right hand gently on the right thigh.
  • Raise your left arm up and back, slightly arching your spine.
  • Hold for 20 to 30 seconds.

Bird dog

  • Get quadruped. Keep your head in line with the spine and gently hug the belly against the spine.
  • Raise your right arm in front of you; the upper arm is placed right next to the ear.
  • Lift your left leg back as if you were making an imprint on the back wall.
  • Pause to count or two and then switch members.
  • Repeat right and left about 10 times.

Superman

  • Lie on a mat face down.
  • Stretch your legs behind you and extend your arms forward past your ears.
  • Stretch your abdominal muscles and bring your shoulder blades together.
  • Pass your right arm and left leg about 4 inches off the ground.
  • Hold three to five beads and repeat with your left arm and right leg.
  • Repeat about 20 times.

Dead bug

  • Lie on your back with your knees bent and your shins parallel to the floor.
  • Embrace your abdominal muscles toward your spine.
  • Extend your right arm above your head while lowering your left foot to hover over the ground or gently tap down.
  • Return these limbs to the starting position and switch sides.
  • Repeat 10-20 times.