Doing sports in a moderate way and with some assiduity is one of the best decisions that people can make, but there is a small detail that we overlook and we should not, and that is that we cannot all do the same exercises. For example, a person with lumbar stenosis should not do the same exercises as someone with a healthy back. This is why we have proposed to review the prohibited exercises if we have lower back injuries.
Lumbar stenosis responds to the narrowing that occurs in the spine, and precisely, in the lower area, that is, the lumbar area. It is the most common form of spinal canal stenosis. The symptoms that show this disease are numbness in one or both legs, tingling, pain and cramps, prolonged pain, generalized back pain, etc.
These types of symptoms, once they appear, worsen over time until they are almost unbearable. This is where the doctor must determine the next step, which is usually surgery after a long treatment with pain relievers and other medications.
All back injuries begin with “a silly ailment” and end up being very painful, which is why we always recommend going to the doctor when we notice that something is not quite right, or at least that pain or symptoms have worsened. The sooner they react, the sooner we can solve our problem.
Back injuries are the ones that most limit us when it comes to doing sports on a regular basis. Moreover, we take the opportunity to remember that it is not recommended to use medication to continue practicing sports as if we had no harm. That only complicates the situation, accelerates the worsening, and leads to more pain, more symptoms, and more injuries.
Lumbar stenosis has a series of prohibited exercises and they are the ones that we are going to explain below, in fact, we have surely done them before, during or after our workouts, since the vast majority are stretching, apart from high exercises. impact that are more than prohibited.
Exercises to avoid with lumbar stenosis
We have already anticipated that there are a series of activities and exercises that we should not do if we suffer from lumbar stenosis, since we will damage the area even more, the symptoms will increase, we will have more pain and everything will get complicated. Of course we repeat again that we should not use medication to train as if we did not have lumbar stenosis, but quite the opposite. You have to train very calmly and avoid the prohibited exercises for lumbar stenosis and other back injuries.
No spinal stretching
If we suffer from back injuries, especially in the lower back, there are6 certain stretches that we should never do. In the case of lumbar stenosis, we must stop stretching the back forward with the intention of brushing our feet or the ground, like the photo above this text.
Any type of extension stretch is prohibited and this is because the spinal canal narrows and pressure is exerted on the damaged area. That causes more pain, increases symptoms and will make us feel more general tiredness and believe that the medication is not working for us.
No free weights
With free weights we mean using dumbbells and barbell weights, what we can do is use machines, but very occasionally and with the right weight, not much and that does not involve a great effort. The bar with the weights or the dumbbells supposes an effort and exerts a highly unnecessary pressure for our ailment, since it compresses the spine.
This type of exercise will further compress the vertebrae, increasing the pain due to the crushing of the surrounding nerves of the vertebrae, especially in the affected area, which in this case is the lumbar area.
In this case, we can consult with a trainer specialized in back injuries, a physiotherapist or a sports doctor, and they will be the ones who, knowing our case, advise us on the best machine exercises to follow a workout and keep fit without damaging our health.
Let’s forget about high-impact activities
With lumbar stenosis, and any other back injury, we have to stop doing high-impact activities. To give a few examples, high-impact exercises for the back include horse riding, running, mountain biking or bumpy terrain, running, jumping, climbing, lifting weights from the ground, weighted squats, trail running, hiking by mountain, etc.
When we have a back injury, our life must go at a different pace and that means reducing the intensity of the workouts. Therefore, we must say goodbye to all those activities that cause impact on injured joints such as the back, knees, ankles, hips, etc.
No, neither walk a lot nor stand
Walking is very beneficial for health, both physical and mental. According to the World Health Organization, to have good physical health, we must walk about 10,000 steps every day. Nobody, or almost nobody meets that figure, but the thing goes further and is that it has been scientifically proven that walking helps oxygenate the brain, release stress, clarify ideas, seek outlets, relax, improve self-esteem, etc.
But what happens when we have lumbar stenosis? Well, we should not swim so much, much less stand for a long time. It is recommended to reduce the pace of the walk, shorten the distances and make the path as smooth and flat as possible.
The most correct thing to do is to alternate a while standing and another sitting, always maintaining a correct posture and using good cushioning, either in the shoes (wide soles with an air chamber or with gel are usually the most successful) or in the chair with a An adequate seat that is soft, but does not sag, and keeps your lower back protected.
Recommended exercises
There are a series of recommended exercises if we suffer from this disease, although the true guidelines can only be given to us by a doctor or physiotherapist who knows our case, since not all exercises are suitable for everyone.
Some of these exercises are, above all, stretching and have to be done in a calm way and very little by little as far as our body reaches. Some examples are: promoting pelvic retroversion, performing quadruped lumbar push-ups, sitting stretches putting the hands between the legs, bringing our knees to the chest in a supine ulna position, lying down with the legs bent and arms outstretched and raising the hips towards up slowly.
We repeat again that these are exercises that must be performed under the supervision of a professional and that they must be done very slowly, since the risk of injury is high, based on the fact that we already have lumbar stenosis. If it hurts, we stop immediately, get up slowly, and rest.
