The Secret To Strengthening Your Lower Back And Eliminating Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain is a constant issue for many people. Studies estimate that 70-90% of individuals will experience lower back pain in their lives. Lower back pain can be extremely debilitating to a person’s lifestyle and sleep patterns and can have a major impact on their mental health as well.
“Strength Changes Everything” podcast host and Exercise Coach founder Brian Cygan interviewed Dr. James Fisher, who has published research on muscular strengthening and lower back pain in the U.K. They discussed the causes of lower back pain and what it takes to actually strengthen the lower back.
About 10-15% of people experiencing chronic lower back pain have a specific reason for it, like nerve issues or a slipped disc. The remaining 85-90% have what’s referred to as non-specific lower back pain.
Non-specific lower back pain may be attributed to those lower back muscles becoming weaker, misfiring and causing pain as a result of:
- The lack of direct exercise on the lower back muscles.
- Overly developed glutes and hamstrings doing the work that the lower back muscles should be doing.
- An imbalance between ab and lower back muscle strength.
Strengthening the lower back muscles takes an isolation exercise and preferably one that doesn’t load the glutes and create a hip extension. This is best done with specific resistance machines.
With specific and proper lower back strength training, Dr. Fisher has seen strength increases as high as 200% over the course of 10 weeks with one 90-second set of exercises per week. The increase in lower back strength results in improved lifestyle function.
Brian explains that The Exercise Coach has patented technology designed to specifically isolate and address the lower back muscles. His experience coaching clients with this technology concurs with the findings reported by Dr. Fisher.
It is important to recognize apprehension towards lower back strength training — especially for an individual who experiences lower back pain. Unless you have an injured spine or are pregnant, you can safely and confidently strengthen the lower back with specific and proper resistance machines.
To learn more about the causes of lower back pain and proper lower back strengthening, listen to the 36th and 37th episodes of the "Strength Changes Everything" podcast.
