How To Exercise Your Lower Back

Knowing how to exercise your lower back is important for those who have jobs that require heavy lifting. The lower back is vulnerable to many problems because you support much of you body's weight and is under constant stress from your movements, such as twisting and bending. Doing regular exercises to strengthen the muscles of your lower back will be beneficial of preventing injuries. Prolapsed or herniated (slipped) disk in the spine is just some of injuries that can be avoided with knowing how to exercise your lower back.

The items you will need to exercise your lower back are:

• Stability ball
• Weighted ball
• Barbell
• Exercise mat or yoga mat

Back extension exercise:

1. Lay down on the floor or mat and have your toes bent. Have your nose touching the mat, place the palms of your hand where your ears are located at.
2. Have your abs tighten and begin to lift your chest using only your lower back muscle.
3. A few inches off the mat, squeeze your lower back and hold this position for two seconds. Lower back to where you started from.
4. For advance users, while lifting your lower back, lift also both legs and have your hands in the back of your head.

A back extension using a stability ball:

1. Lay on the stability ball with your belly and hips directly under the ball.
2. Have your legs straight behind you and support the ball from moving using your toes. Begin to lift your chest using your lower back muscle.
3. Squeeze your lower back at its highest point and hold this position for two seconds. Begin to lower back to the starting position.
4. For advances user, use a weighted ball.

Barbell dead lift exercise:

1. Pick the appropriate weight you wish to lift. Now with the barbell in front of you bend down and grab hold of the barbell while keeping your back straight. This is consider the starting position.
2. Begin to lift the weight using your legs and breathe out. While standing straight up the weight should be where your thighs are at.
3. Contract your lower back by pulling back your shoulder blades. Hold this position for two seconds. Lower the barbell back to the starting position.

Resource:

Lower Back Exercises