Tips to Help You Shield Your Lower Back During Cross Training Workouts
The flexibility and marvelous strength engineered to your lower back make it vulnerable to developing lots of problems. Also, since the lower back is a channel through which nerves run through the spine into the other parts of your body, a slight problem with your back may cause hip problems, leg pain, and much more.
While lifting a heavy object, making a sudden movement or twisting as in CrossFit training, the lower back can be injured. These activities cause your ligaments or muscles to stretch or even develop microscopic tears. With time, repetitive stress or poor posture may also cause muscle strain or soft tissue problems.
How to Prevent Lower Back Pain
The lumbar spine has a total of 5 motion segments. Most bending and twisting is done among those segments. However, the lowest two segments known as L4-L5 and L5-S1 do most of the movements and hence susceptible to wearing down or even getting injuries. The following are some of the tips to help prevent the occurrence of injuries and pain.
Exercising Your Core
If you want to support your lower back and prevent occurrences of injuries, you need to build strong core muscles. Low impact cardiovascular workouts such as exercise walking enhance blood flow to the spine. This, in turn, supplies healing nutrients as well as hydration to the structures that make your lower back. In case you cannot exercise for one reason or the other, make small goals to get up and move up and down your stairs at least 3 times in a row. You can also sit on an exercise ball or walk with a friend for about 20 minutes.
Rectify Your Posture
The foremost thing your coach will train you on in the CrossFit gym is on posture. Poor posture pressurizes your back and may cause the degenerated discs to become even more painful. The best way to support the natural curve of your lower spine is by using an ergonomic chair and always checking on your posture as you work during the day. If you sit for a greater part of the day, ensure you set aside at least half an hour to get up and walk.
Improve Your Physical Health
The spine is all you have and reflects the overall health of your body. If you can do anything to improve your fitness and health, your lumbar spine will benefit as well. For instance, drink lots of water, desist from taking inflammatory diets, minimize alcohol intake, and stop smoking. Ensure you also get enough sleep because too little sleep can affect your back or cause pain.
Stretch Your Hamstrings
Tight hamstrings are one of the major causes of lower back pain. Try incorporating hamstring stretching exercises into your CrossFit workout of the day to decrease the pressure on the pelvis and give your lower back the much-needed relief. Not every hamstring stretching approach is good for your back condition, but your therapist can guide you on that.
Anyone who has had to deal with lower back pain can tell you how fast it can immobilize. The above tips and much more out there can minimize flare-ups of back pain.
