We all want the quick fix for losing weight and adding muscle. Yet the thing most of us have in common more than anything is chronic back pain. Not only that, but we push mobility work and prehab work to prevent us from getting this nagging pain to the side. Which is ironic, because in order to maximize your muscle gain or fat loss, you’d need to be at 100% with no lingering injuries ideally. We should all be paying more focus to our nagging pain so that we don’t have to cope with it day in and day out.
Prioritize Mobility Work
Mobility is the ability to move through a range of motion with full control. Without this, you overcompensate by using muscles and areas of the body that aren’t meant to take on that extra load (i.e. when you lift something off the ground and tweak your lower back). It’s also a sign that your body is telling you something is not right.
Over time, because of these compensations we groove improper movement patterns (i.e. using your lower back to lift, or not being able to drop into a full squat) because we stop teaching our body how to fire all our muscles. It’s not just about stretching, but about taking your muscles through a full range with some load to create tension to keep the muscle activated.
By incorporating mobility drills, we groove a new, and PROPER movement pattern, teaching the muscle to fire the way it SHOULD be. Adding some light resistance will make sure it maintains that stability and control throughout the full range.
Diet’s Role on Inflammation
If your body is inflamed it might not be moving optimally. So it can only benefit us to stay away from foods that you find cause inflammation. I’ve had friends who notice after they eat specific foods, their joints act up the day after and it prevents them from doing the workouts they wanted. Focus on eating foods high in Omega 3’s (fish, olive oil, etc) to help bring the inflammation down. You can eliminate all culprits at once (gluten, vegetable oils, lactose, etc) or one by one if you want to see what exactly is causing it..
The Mobility Plan!
If you need help on the exact technique and form, be sure to youtube these exercises below. For this article, I’ll just be listing some good exercises that are great, at addressing all the issues mentioned above.
Bird Dog - I like the bird dog because its low impact and teaches you how to properly keep a strong ab tension through a dynamic range of motion
Quick Tips: Slow and steady! People always rush these exercises to get them done. The point is activation! You want to be feeling your hips engage the ENTIRE time. You want your core firing the ENTIRE time. If your body is twisting or turning in anyway that’s a sign the connection is off.
Dead Bugs - Also great at engaging the core and glutes. You’ll be lying on your back extending the opposite leg and arm while keeping your core tight, and low back nice and flat.
Quick Tips: Make sure to exhale as you extend and inhale as you come back. Keep a flat back and a tight core. This will help fire the core and relax the low back pain over time.
Floor Bridge - This exercises is good for activating the hamstrings, glutes, and core. Most people tend to hyperextend their low back, for the sake of getting more range of motion.
Quick Tips: Do not lose your contraction in the abs for the sake of getting that extra range of motion. In fact, you might find you get less range doing this compared to normal. That’s okay. It is because more focus is being placed on pushing that low back and keeping the core engaged, and glutes contracted vs hyperextending the low back using not abdominal strength.
Source: https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/best-ways-to-fight-chronic-back-pain