A Bespoke Back Exercise Guide
Advice on dealing with back pain is endless, and as Sarah points out, her back is different, and no, she doesn’t want to try my routine. So, if you’re not a fan of unsolicited advice, please stop reading. If you haven’t talked to a doctor about your back pain, please stop reading and make an appointment. There’s a long list of back pain “red flags” that you and your doctor should cross off before you take matters into your own hands.[i]
If my crudely drawn illustrations don’t help, Harvard University has a collection of back exercise guides (free and paid),[ii] and a web search of the exercise names below will pull up many other websites and videos. You may find Stuart McGill’s “Big Three Low Back Exercises” or the McKenzie Method widely promoted, but I needed mine à la carte rather than table d’hôte.
1. Warm-up: My mat stretches and exercises work better if I warm up my muscles, and the best one for me is a hill climb in my neighbourhood. I call it my 35-minute “mini-grind,” after the Grouse Grind in North Vancouver. I walk to the bottom of the hill and back up the 262-foot elevation gain as fast as I can. The steepest part is the same 31% grade as the Grouse Grind, and if I do it daily after a serious injury, I’m usually feeling better on the fourth day.[iii] If I’m not in the mood for the strenuous climb, I have a 20-minute loop with a 10% average grade.
2. Lower back, hamstrings, and calf stretches: With my back on a foam mat, I gently pull my thighs towards my chest, slightly off centre, until I feel my hamstrings stretch, then hold for 10-20 seconds, repeating five times (often alternating legs and one or two reps with both legs at the same time). I stretch my calves by bending my ankles (dorsiflexing) at the same time.
3. Pelvic tilt and bridge: I continue by staying where I was, on my back with knees bent and feet as close to my butt as possible, do a pelvic tilt to press my back against the mat for a few seconds, raise my butt off the mat as high as I can get it, then hold for five seconds. Repeat ten times.
4. Bird dog with calf stretch: I roll over onto all fours as carefully as I can without twisting my back. From there, I raise my right leg and left arm as high as I can, dorsiflex my ankle and extend my wrist, then hold for five seconds. I alternate legs and arms nine more times, so I’ve done each one five times.
5. Happy cat, angry cat, child’s pose: If my back feels tight, I stay in the same position and toss in a few of these classic back bends, known as cow and cat poses in yoga. If that doesn’t loosen my back up enough, I do a long child’s pose with my head resting on the ground if possible, and slowly inhale until I feel a gentle stretch in my lower back.
6. Modified Superwoman: One exercise I did in a gym that helped me was a back extension (raise) on a Roman chair. I don’t have a Roman chair at home, so I stack two chair cushions on my mat, lie on my stomach with my pelvis on the cushions, place my feet under a sofa or bed mattress, and extend my back as high as I can with my arms at my sides—holding for five seconds and repeating ten times. Some stretch out their legs and arms and call it Superman, so I call mine Superwoman.
7. Sphinx, upward-facing dog, child’s poses: I finish by stretching out my back as gently as I can with these three yoga poses in this order—held for 5-10 seconds each. I can often feel my back stretch and hear a pop in my lower back when I inhale deeply in child’s pose, so I know it’s doing its job.
A higher “dose” of these heals my back faster from an injury (once or twice a day), whereas I do them less often (every other day) when my back is in good shape, and I want to prevent reinjury. Your experience may vary![iv]
Any thoughts? How are you doing? Let me know…
[i] Those signs include, duration longer than six weeks, under age eighteen without physical trauma, over age fifty without physical trauma, major trauma, cancer, fever, chills, night sweats, weight loss, IV drug use, immunocompromised status, genitourinary or gastrointestinal procedures, night pain, pain while lying down, pain worse while coughing, sitting, or during Valsalva maneuver, pain radiating below knee, incontinence, poor sensation in your butt or perineum (saddle anaesthesia), severe or rapid progressive neurological deficits.
[ii] https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/back-pain-a-to-z
https://www.health.harvard.edu/exercise-and-fitness/effective-exercises-for-building-a-strong-back
https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthy-aging-and-longevity/the-best-core-exercises-for-older-adults
https://www.health.harvard.edu/exercise-and-fitness/easy-exercises-to-shore-up-your-core
[iii] The average grade over the entire uphill portion of the walk is 6.6%.
[iv] The information on this website does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.