Posted on October 09, 2015 by Kate Halsall

 

Whilst we all know that deadlifts are great for your lower back and hamstrings, if your core and stabilising muscles are not strong enough, you’ll never reach that personal best one rep max. We often over look what we would consider to be “simple” exercises because we don’t feel the muscle burn or sense of achievement that we do from throwing hefty weights around. But if you want to improve your lifts and protect yourself from injury, these are our top 5 lower back strengthening exercises.

Back Extensions (hyperextensions)

Great for spinal mobility and muscular strength. There are hyperextension machines but our preference would be to do this lying face down flat on the floor or with an exercise ball.

• Lie on your front on the floor.
• Position your arms either behind your back, at the side of your head or outstretched – the further away they are from your body the harder the exercise is. You can also use your arms to push you into the extension like a yoga move if you have the flexibility
• Relax your feet, legs and your backside
• Take a deep breath in, and ask you breathe out draw in your abs and lift your chest off the floor.
• Hold for a couple of seconds and then release
• Repeat

Torso Rotation Exercises

Whilst rotating your torso will work your obliques and other abdominal muscles, the muscles around the spine and pelvis assist in both the work and stabilisation of the body throughout the exercise. There are a number of different torso rotation exercises: Russian Twists, Woodchop, Cable or Resistance Band rotation. If you need any help choosing one of these speak to a member of the team!

Plank & Plank Variations

Done with correct form, these isometric exercises are great for strengthening your core muscles. The key technique points to remember are:

• Keep your elbows and shoulders inline with each other (if you do a full plank on your hands, then wrists, elbows and shoulders need to be in line)
• Pull your shoulders back and down to avoid upper back arching
• Tilt your pelvis so that you create that nice long straight line and your back doesn’t dip
• Draw the belly button in but don’t hold your breath!

Hip Bridges

Whilst predominantly a glute and hamstring exercise, once again those back muscle work in conjunction with everything else to help stabilise you.

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and heels on the floor
• Squeeze and raise your bum off the floor until your back forms a straight line from knees to shoulders
• Hold for a couple of seconds and release

Supermans

The key here is that this is a different exercise to a back extension. In the back extension your legs should stay flat and your arm positions are up to you. This time when we take our deep breaths we lift both our arms and our legs off the floor and hold. It’s much harder!

The best thing is that there is progression with all these moves – you can create longer levers, add weight and challenge stability and look great whilst you do it!  Please remember that these back exercises should be added into your normal routine and not become the focus of it – you need to work your whole body, not just your back!