Hot. Sweaty. Hard work. Is that how you see exercise and
avoid it? Well, lucky for you, a Oxford low back pain sufferer,
there’s a less hot, sweaty, hard way to exercise some of the most important
muscles in your spine: the multifidus and iliocostalis lumborum muscles. Satterwhite Chiropractic
shares recent information about these back muscles, these stabilizing and
connecting muscles in the low back and how to strengthen them subtly and
easily.
Now, just so our Oxford well-fit chiropractic
clients don’t think this is relevant to them, [[companyname] wants to share
that seemingly fit people may even get
back pain because their exercise routine may not engage these crucial muscles, leaving
them at risk for back pain and weak muscles. Really. One case report certainly
brings to light. A male athlete who does heavy deadlifts, squats, bent-over
rows and other lumbar spine loading weight training exercises lost 42% of his
lumbar strength over 10 years! This resulted in “disuse atrophy” of lumbar
spine muscles. (1) Basically, these exercises, as intense and demanding as they
are, didn’t reach and work all his muscles. And daily activities certainly don’t
activate all of these muscles to the point of being stimulated to gain strength.
So what is needed to build strength and keep these lumbar
spine muscles strong? Lumbar extension training. Lumbar extensors are usually
found to be weak, yet they’re quite responsive to exercise. It’s reported in a
new paper that multifidus and iliocostalis lumborum muscles are most responsive
when the pelvis is stabilized during extension exercise. (2) What does this
entail? Keeping the involvement of the hip extensors low. This, in turn, provides
improved recruitment of lumbar extensors. (2,3)
A newly described way of doing this allows anyone to do
lumbar extensor strengthening about anywhere with little exertion: standing in
line at the grocery store, sitting at a red light, talking on the phone. No one
even needs to know you’re doing it! This is how: Not engaging the legs, sitting
up straight or standing straight, tighten up the back muscles over 2 to 3
seconds then hold for 1 before releasing. Rest for 10 seconds, then repeat. (2)
These are isometric lumbar extension exercises. Simple, right?
So contact Satterwhite Chiropractic to discuss your struggle with
back pain as well as your Oxford exercise routine to keep strong.
Together, Satterwhite Chiropractic and you can fill any holes in the routine to keep
your spine strong and back pain at bay without even a sweat!