Exercises for the treatment and prevention of low back pain (strengthening exercises)

Advised by: Master. Doctor Duong The Vinh, Head of Rehabilitation Department, Vinmec Times City International General Hospital

There are many causes of low back pain, in which weakness of the muscles that protect the spine against gravity (back muscles, abdominal muscles, pelvic muscles) is often the main cause. Exercise to strengthen the muscles that protect and support the spine is one of the most effective measures in the prevention and treatment of recurrent, chronic low back pain.
Strength training (with the same muscle group) does not need to be practiced every day, it can be exercised once every 2 days or 3 times a week. Exercise at least 2 times a week.
First do all the strengthening exercises then do all the stretching exercises or alternate strengthening and stretching

Specific instructions for exercises to strengthen muscles

1. Strengthen the muscles of the lower abdomen and quadriceps The practitioner lies on his back, with his back straight, his right knee bent 90 degrees, keeping his right foot close to the floor. Squeeze your stomach, straighten your left leg, then slowly lift your left foot off the floor about 20cm. Hold that position for 5 seconds (count from 1 to 5), then return to the starting position. Practice repeating 5 to 15 times. Switch to the left leg and do the same thing again.

2. Strengthens the muscle group that protects the spine in the buttocks, back and abdomen

The practitioner lies on his back, knees bent, feet close to the floor. Then stretch your abs and lift your butt off the floor, keeping your torso from shoulder to knee in line. Hold that position for 5 seconds, then slowly lower your butt to the floor back to the starting position. Practice repeating this 5 to 15 times.
One-legged bridge practice: This exercise increases the difficulty of the two-legged bridge exercise. The practitioner lies as above, squeezes the buttocks firmly and stretches the abdomen, then lifts the right leg and buttocks off the floor, holding this position for 5 seconds; Then bring the right leg and buttock back to the original position. Continue doing the same with the left leg. Repeat 5 to 10 times with each leg

3. Exercise to strengthen upper abdominal muscles The practitioner lies on his back, knees bent, feet close to the floor, hands clasped together behind the nape of the neck, elbows facing out. Then raise your head and shoulders off the floor about 10 to 20cm, straighten your body, hold this position for 5 seconds and then slowly return to the original position. Inhale as you lift your torso off the floor, and exhale as you lower your torso. Practice 10 to 15 times like that.

4. Exercise to strengthen the cross-abdominal muscles The practitioner lies on his back, knees bent, feet close to the floor, head and back in a neutral position. Then put the fingers on both sides together, put them on the back of the neck, elbows facing out (the two hands are only for lifting the head, do not pull the head up and forward).
Rotate your torso to the right to shift weight to your right shoulder, then slowly lift your head and shoulders off the floor, left shoulder higher than right. Return to the starting position, do the same with the left shoulder.
Do 10 to 15 reps on each side.

5. Exercise to strengthen back muscles, abdominal muscles, neck muscles, arms and legs

The practitioner lies on his stomach, puts his elbows and forearms on the floor, then lifts his body off the floor; balance the whole body on the toes and elbows to the sides; keep your back straight, legs straight (like a plank). Hold in this position for 10 seconds, then relax; Then repeat the movement 5 to 10 times. If it is difficult to balance the whole body on the toes and forearms, the practitioner can balance on the knees and on the elbows on the sides as shown in the figure.

6. Exercise to strengthen the back, lumbar and gluteal muscles. The practitioner lies on his stomach with his arms extended straight over his head with his forearms and palms close to the floor. Then slowly raise your left arm and right leg off the floor. Hold that position for 5 seconds and then return to the original position. Continue with the right arm and left leg as you did with the left arm and right leg. Do 5 to 10 repetitions on each side.

7. Strengthening the diagonal abdominal muscles The practitioner lies on the left side, resting the left elbow and forearm on the floor, then pushing to lift the torso off the floor, keeping the torso, feet, knee joints, hip joint in a straight line. Just keep the left elbow, forearm, and outer edge of the left foot flat on the floor, feet overlapping. Hold this position for 10 seconds, then return to the original position, repeat 5 times. Do the same exercise with the other half, right leg and right arm. If that movement is difficult to do, you can just practice balancing on your knees and forearms.

8. Strengthens the muscles along the sides of the spine, the muscles behind the groin and buttocks. The practitioner stands with his hands and knees perpendicular on the floor; Keep your head and back straight in line with your spine. Then raise the left hand; straighten forward at the level of the torso, while lifting the right leg and straightening it back; Keep your hands, torso and legs straight.
Hold this position for 5 seconds, then slowly bring your arms and legs back to the starting position, repeat the same process with your right arm and left leg.
Repeat 10 times on each side.

Things need to notice

Practitioners must be in a comfortable, relaxed position, and warm up gently before performing the exercises. Start with simple movements for a short period of time, then gradually increase both the time and the number of repetitions until you reach the required maximum. Do not exercise too much, if after exercising you feel tired and have more pain, you need to reduce the time and number of exercises accordingly. Do not hold your breath while practicing, must combine with regular breathing every time you perform the movement.

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Bài viết này được viết cho người đọc tại Sài Gòn, Hà Nội, Hồ Chí Minh, Phú Quốc, Nha Trang, Hạ Long, Hải Phòng, Đà Nẵng.