Exercises to Strengthen Lower Back

The bane of the modern, hi-tech world not withstanding, somewhere down the line it is taking a toll on our bodies. Yes, my dear ladies and gentlemen, it is due to the way we work and are hooked on to our desktops, laptops and net books, with almost nil exercise (for at least many of us, if not everyone). No wonder we get back pain, headaches, stiff neck muscles and god knows what. Although, if we could be a little bit conscious about our health, and these issues as early as possible, it can help preventing problems in the long run. So, keeping that in mind, how about a session of exercises for strengthening your lower back?

Exercises to Strengthen Lower Back Muscles

Exercise #1
This is called the straight leg deadlifts. This back exercise gives a stretch to your lower back muscles by way of flexion extension motion ranges. For doing this exercise, here are the steps-

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and then hold a barbel in front of your thighs in both hands
• Then you need to bend forward for lowering the barbel towards the ground.
• Once the barbel aligns with your ankles, extend your spine and hips for standing back up.

Avoid stressing your back too much in this exercise, by taking up too much weight. This applies to all the lower back exercises with dumbbells as well!

Exercise #2
Side plank is another good exercise to strengthen your core muscles. The following are the steps to do it.

• Lie on your right side in a straight line, while resting on your forearms.
• The elbow should be directly below the shoulder and with your abdomen in slightly contracted, lift your hips off the ground, or the surface you are lying on.
• Let the hips be square and the neck in line with your spine.
• Hold the position for around 20 to 40 seconds and lower the hips.
• Repeat a couple of times, alternating sides.

Doing the side plank will help in building strength and endurance in the core and protect your lower back. It will also provide stability to the lower back muscles in activities where movement in the hips or back is required. Back exercises and stretching, thus, as you can see is important to give a certain strength to your core muscles.

Exercise #3
The name of this exercise might sound very funny, but it is one of the common exercises to strengthen lower back. Called bird-dog, this exercise is a hot favorite of the experts. Here is how you do this exercise.

• Begin with keeping hands below your shoulders and knees below your hips.
• This is the basic position where you are on all fours.
• Now extend the left leg backward and right arm forward at the same time. It can be the other way round as well - left leg backward and right arm forward.
• Once both are parallel to the ground, get back to the original position and alternate the hands and legs as mentioned in the earlier step.
• Do not let your torso rotate during this exercise and squeeze your abs by pulling your stomach towards the spine when you are on all fours.

Doing this exercise regularly will be great for improving muscle balance and coordination.

Exercise #4
Leg lifts is another effective exercise to strengthen your lower back. Let's see how to do this easiest of exercises to strengthen your lower back.

• Lie flat on your back.
• Lift your legs up to around 12 inches, keeping them parted.
• Bring them down together, but do not touch the surface.

In addition to imparting strength to your core back muscles, this exercise, will also keep a tab on your waistline! Isn't that a great incentive to do this lower back exercise, specially for the fairer sex?

These exercises to strengthen lower back can be even more effective, if combined with exercise ball workouts. Exercises like bridge and superman exercise (where you lie on your belly and extend your arms and legs simultaneously for squeezing your lower back) and a few more. Over a period of time you would see the difference, along with keeping lower back pain at bay, you will have developed good stability and strength in your back muscles. Keep at it, take care!