Back Exercises: Lower Back Extensions
Posted in Fitness by inMotion Life
Many people aren’t aware of how important their lower backs are, and that the lower back is responsible for supporting the upper part of their body, thereby affecting almost every activity they perform. However, many would likely agree that we often ignore the lower back part of our body. While working hard on all the other body parts we often forget that our lower back is as important as any other part of our body, such as our shoulders or middle back and needs equal care and attention.
We often place more importance on our abs workout and forget our back workout completely. Due to this an imbalance is caused between your abs and your lower back which leads to severe back pains. So strengthening your lower back muscle is as important as strengthening your abs.
The lower back extension is the best exercise and is recommended by doctors and fitness experts to fight your back pain. It also helps strengthen your back muscles to avoid any future risks, and helps you loosen tight or sore back muscles that may be caused by over sitting or lack of back exercises. Lower back extensions can be done anywhere as it doesn’t require any equipment and is really simple to perform.
Lower Back Extensions Exercise
As always, start with warm up exercises. Preferably a light aerobics exercise for 10-15 minutes. This is a very good exercising strategy to follow before getting into your regular exercise regimen.
- Lie down on your stomach with your body straight and your legs extended
- Place your hands by your side
- Slowly lift your back, shoulders and chest off the floor as high as possible
- Now slowly return your shoulders to the floor again
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 until it becomes a struggle
While performing this exercise don’t forget to breath. Breathe in as your raise your body and hold your position and then breathe out when you lower yourself.
Repeat this exercise until your sets are completed. Each set should comprise of 12-15 reps. Start with 2 sets for the first two weeks, then increase it to 3 sets of 15-20 reps in weeks 3-4 and then from there, progress in accordance with your capability. However, be sure not to overdo it, as it may increase your back pain rather than eliminating it completely. Perform this exercise just 2-3 times a week and work on your other body parts on the rest of the day’s.
Initially you might find it difficult to do this exercise. You may not be able to raise your body very high, but that’s fine. As you progress you will be able to lift yourself higher. So don’t waste any more time, get started!
And if you are looking for another good exercise for your lower back, we recommed trying the Stiff Leg Deadlift.