When working out, the adage “No pain, no gain” is frequently used — some discomfort is to be expected. However, there is rarely any benefit to exercising out when you are in excruciating pain, particularly back discomfort.
Learn how to avoid lower back pain while exercising and how working out can induce lower back pain in the sections below.
Why does working out cause back pain?
If you have back pain after working out, you may attribute it to post-workout soreness. This pain occurs as your muscles slowly rip, mend, and grow stronger.
While some soreness is typical after working out, you should not have severe back pain. In most situations, the source of your back pain is either poor form when exercising or performing exercises that are difficult on your back.
10 Exercises That May Cause Back Pain
It’s not always easy to figure out what’s causing your back pain. There could be a variety of causes for this, and specific exercises could be one of them.
Here are ten distinct workouts that may be causing you back pain at the gym, as well as what you can do to avoid them.
1 squats
Sit-ups create back pain by forcing your lumbar spine on the floor and engaging your hip flexors, which pull on the lower spine. The muscles that travel from your thigh to your lower back are known as hip flexors. Sit-ups encourage improper posture and actions by drawing on the lumbar spine.
The benefits of core strength provided by sit-ups solely engage your rectus abdominis. Your rectus abdominis muscles, which run from your rib cage to your pubic bone, are often known as your “six pack” or “abs.” Because our muscles operate together in our regular tasks, exercises that work muscles in isolation provide little benefit. As a result, sit-ups have limited application and benefits in everyday life.
Here are several exercises that, unlike sit-ups, keep your spine in a neutral position and activate more of your core:
• Pall of presses: This exercise inhibits lumbar extension and strengthens the muscles that surround your spine to resist rotation. It entails dragging a cable or an anchored resistance band toward your chest while keeping your spine straight and good posture. The Pallof press develops your rotator cuff, upper back, tricep, and pectoral muscles in addition to your core.
• Side planks: While sit-ups were originally thought to be the gold standard for increasing abdominal strength, planks have surpassed them because they activate your core more comprehensively. Planks work the muscles of the obliques, rectus abdominis, and lumbar spine. To do a side plank, lie on your side with your feet together and your forearm under your shoulder. Contract your abs, elevate your hips, and push up with your forearm. Your body should be aligned in a straight line. Hold this position for a certain amount of time before repeating on the other side.
• McGill curl-ups: By supporting the lower back, the McGill curl-up changes the standard sit-up and abdominal crunch. As you activate your core, this support guarantees that your spine moves as little as possible. Lie on your back with one knee bent, one leg straight on the floor, and both hands below your lower back to do a McGill curl-up. Maintain a neutral spine position by tucking your chin and lifting your head and shoulders off the floor. Hold that pose for at least 10 seconds, focusing on your core.
2 SQUATS
Squats, unlike sit-ups, are a full-body workout. They mostly strengthen your glutes, hips, core, and upper body when you use weights. Squats are widely regarded as an essential activity in any fitness routine by many health professionals.
However, poor technique can negate the benefits of squatting by causing back discomfort and other issues. When you squat incorrectly, your knees are less supporting and your back is under more strain.
If you’re having back pain from squats, work on your placement and technique. To avoid back pain while squatting, practice the proper squatting technique and positioning by:
• keeping your feet and toes facing forward
• maintaining a straight-ahead or upward gaze
• keeping your spine in a neutral position
• slightly bending and angling your knees outward
• increasing joint flexibility with other exercises
3 DELIVERIES
Back soreness from deadlifts, like squats, is a sign of poor movement and placement.
• Engaging your glutes and hamstrings
• Maintaining relaxed but still shoulders
• Looking up or straight ahead
• Sitting your hips back with slightly bent knees
• Leaning your torso forward
• Engaging your core and keeping your spine in a neutral position
• Lifting with your chest up and lower back straight
When deadlifts are performed incorrectly, they can place too much strain on your lower back. The additional pressure may result in a sprain or strain.
4 PULLS-UPS
When push-ups cause back pain, the most common cause is poor form. Push-ups work your chest, shoulders, and triceps when done correctly. Back pain can result from incorrectly performed push-ups, such as allowing your hips to sag as you lower yourself before pushing back up. As you complete push-ups, this form puts more strain on your spine.
It is also possible to have back pain when performing push-ups with proper form. Push-up variations activate lower back muscles, whereas normal push-ups compress the intervertebral spinal joints where the backbone portions join. Among the push-up variations that improve lumbar spinal muscular activation are:
• Forward push-ups: For this push-up variation, place your hands approximately 8 inches in front of your shoulders, shoulder-width apart.
• Backward push-ups: A backward push-up variation involves placing your hands about 8 inches behind your shoulders while keeping your shoulders shoulder-width apart.
Because these variants cause more back pain, it’s critical to use good hip form when completing push-ups.
5 BURPEES
Burpees are a good workout for boosting metabolic function since they involve the complete body. They activate the core, raise the heart rate, and target the upper and lower body.
Standing, squatting, and planking are the three primary positions in a burpee session. A burpee is performed by starting in a standing posture, lowering into the bottom of a squat, transitioning to a plank, returning to the squat, and rising to an upright position once more. These workouts are usually timed, so you keep doing burpees until the timer runs out.
Burpees have many strength and conditioning benefits, but they also put a pressure on your hip flexors and lower back. You flex your hips every time you move from the squat to the plank and back to the squat. Depending on your hip muscle flexibility, this hip flexion pulls your lower back muscles to a larger or smaller extent. To keep your spine straight and neutral while performing burpees, it’s critical to limit movement to the hips as much as possible.
Furthermore, because squats can cause back pain if done incorrectly, the speed with which you perform burpee exercises increases that danger. Burpees must be performed slowly enough to ensure perfect form when completing the squat.
Burpees, unlike sit-ups, provide more overall advantages than hazards of back strain. Still, because such dangers exist, it’s critical to exercise caution and perfect form when executing burpees. If you already have back pain, you should save burpees until another day when you feel better.
6 TOE TOUCHES
Toe touches might worsen pain in people who have a lower back issue. Slow, steady movements are required while doing toe touches. Warm up your muscles beforehand by bringing your knees to your chest. Quick movements with toe touches can put tension on the back muscles and put pressure on the spinal discs. If you have a lower back pain condition like sciatica, avoid toe touches.
7 SUPERMAN
Ironically, the superman stance makes you vulnerable to back discomfort rather than invincible. Lying on your stomach with your arms extended in front of you, perform the prone superman stance. You’ll look like a prone superman in this pose, hence the name. You raise your arms and legs off the ground at the same time once you’re in the stance.
This exercise requires a very limited range of motion. As a result, the superman stance is unlikely to significantly develop your lower back, glute, and hamstring muscles. It is also possible to develop back pain and spasms as a result of this workout. The purported benefits of the superman exercise, like sit-ups, do not always exceed the dangers of back strain.
8 BRIDGE OF THE GLUTE
When done correctly, the glute bridge is a fantastic back workout. Here’s how to do a glute bridge correctly:
1. Lie on your back with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Bring your feet closer to your hips, so that when you lift your hips, your knees are above your heels.
3. Lift your hips with your core and glutes, being cautious not to overextend them.
Lifting your hips should be powered by your glute muscles. When you lift too high, you risk hyperextension of the back muscles. When you use a glute bridge to lift your hips too high, the lower back muscles take over and hyperextend. This movement has the potential to crush spinal discs and aggravate any existing back discomfort. To avoid back pain from a glute bridge, make sure to do it correctly and gently.
9 FOREARM PLANK
The forearm plank is a low-impact exercise that engages all core muscles at the same time. While planks effectively work your core muscles, many people report a pinching sensation in their lower back when completing a forearm plank. Improper technique, along with most other exercises on this list, is the most typical cause of forearm plank back pain.
The proper form for a forearm plank is as follows:
Lie down on your stomach, legs extended and feet together.
2. Raise your body in a straight line from head to toe by bringing your forearms beneath your shoulders.
3. Maintain your attention on the floor and engage your core muscles while doing so.
4. Hold the plank position while breathing evenly and steadily, and keep your hips from lifting or sinking.
5. Hold the position for 30 seconds before lowering your body to the ground and repeating.
Some common explanations for pinching feelings in your back when performing a forearm plank include:
• Tilting your pelvis too far forward, causing your back to arch
• lowering your hips too near to the ground, resulting in a rounded back;
• raising your hips too high, resulting in an upside-down V-shape of your body
As a result, maintain good form when performing a forearm plank to decrease the chance of back strain.
10 TWISTS IN THE TORSO
Every day, we twist our spines – getting out of the car, leaning over to pick up a dropped object, and other tasks all necessitate spine rotation. When we experience back discomfort, the twisting makes these movements difficult.
Exercises that twist your spine can aggravate your injury or condition if you have back discomfort. Exercises such as torso twists should be avoided in these circumstances.
In general, when performing a torso twist, maintain your lower back motionless and merely twist your mid-back (thoracic spine) and hips. Twisting the lumbar spine can result in a variety of back ailments or disorders. Standing torso twists expand your core, whereas prone torso twists provide little benefit and may raise your risk of injury.
Should You Workout If You Have Back Pain?
This question has two answers: yes and no. Some exercises help to relieve back discomfort, while others aggravate it. In general, you should undertake modest workouts that stretch but do not overstretch the muscles around your back. Save the strenuous workouts for when your back is feeling strong and healthy.
It is also critical to warm up before working out and stretch gently afterward. Warming up before working out promotes blood flow to your muscles, while mild stretches afterward aid in muscle recovery.
With Your Back Pain, Put Your Trust in Metropolitan Pain Spine Institute.
The Metropolitan Pain Spine Institute is pleased to assist people in central New Jersey who are suffering from back pain. Board-certified interventional pain medicine experts, orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine specialists, and radiologists are among our providers. With such knowledge on hand, you can be confident that you’re in excellent hands when you come to us for back pain relief.
Our board-certified physicians create a sympathetic environment in which patients feel heard and understood regarding their pain concerns. Make an appointment with one of our spine specialists right away!
After consulting your doctor, you can take Aspadol 200mg if exercise is ineffective
