lower back exercises
 

I have began working out so I can increase my overall and core strenght. I do cruches on an inclined bench, trunk twists while holding 40 lbs, lat pull downs, push ups, arm curls, and I strecth afterwards. I need a good lower back exercise or two so I can strengthen to attain spine angle easier. thanks

exercises
 

Here are some ideas for you:

- hyperextensions (progressing towards weighted hyperextensions)

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...extension.html

- deadlifts

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...BDeadlift.html

The hypers are rather simple as you can tell from the illustration. They do a great job working the entire lower back and hamstrings. You'll find that most hamstring exercises work the lower back and vice versa.

Be very careful though if you do deadlifts as form is extremely important - poor form/using too much weight can cause serious problems. However if done correctly deadlifts are one of the ultimate compound exercises as they work basically the entire back and utilize lots of leg involvement (amount of hamstring involvement depends on stance though - wide stance brings hamstrings more into play, narrow stance brings more back into play). I personally like deadlifts because they trump doing a multitude of isolation work.

As a final point, remember that the lower back is opposite your abdominals. If the loewr back and abs are out of balance as far as strength and conditioning goes then it's not a good thing. Just note that some ab work is preferable with any workout program but especially when trying to strengthen your back.

Good
 

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Good links Matt!! Good information!!

As usual Matt has provided a great resource for training information, gotta love the animation.

While it may go without saying that you should always adjust the weight to your ability I must say that both of these positions, deadlifts and hyperextensions are very advanced movement in terms of functional ability. Notice in the deadlift how straight the trainees back stays at the depth of his motion. This is critical. So if you find that your back rounds before you get to that stage be sure to modify and stop at that point. It's fine if that is the bottom of your motion, it will increase with practice. If your back rounds at all you move weight into the knees; a recipe for disaster.

Again, it's all relative to your existing level of strength, fitness, and flexibility as to how you develop a program. All training requires careful consideration to the movements so I recommend taking it easy on the resistence while you perfect your form and listen to your body for feedback on how you are performing. Let us know how it goes.

Matt you are great. I love when you have time to post. Thanks for always sharing your resources.

Vickie

thanks matt Lagster and Vickie, I will be working on it.

Torso twists while holding 40 pounds are rather dangerous. Stuart McGill, a back expert, has trained a champion discus thrower who he did not have doing any twisting exercises. The amount of compression that you get from twisting is ridiculous, and all but the most sturdiest of backs should likely refrain from such exercises.

Matt

Stuart McGill's website www.backfitpro.com

P.S. I am not affiliated with him in any way.

Thanks mrodock for your post.

I agree one thousand percent, even before going to the McGill site (which I will do when I finish talking - it's a girl thing) I can trust it is yet another great contribution from the Lynn Blake camp. The key word here is 'sturdiest'. You have to always evaluate your objective and your starting point. Often people think of the 'core' of the body being just the abdominal region ( it is up to your neck and to mid thigh, for the record). If your hip flexors are not substantially balanced with the abs, and extensors and lats on the back, you can easily create a problem. Also the 'way' you twist your body during this action is critical. I often see people doing twisting exercises with a rounded back which is the antethisis of their physical objective. The function of the muscles on the front and back of the spine are designed to antagonize each other's action to keep the vertebrae (those 27 joints that comprise the spine) decompressed during "all" movement. If you are setting yourself up for compression, you are in the wrong form. Maybe we need to get a camera on this issue.

Thanks for your contribution. This is foundational to all training and you hit the mark.

Vik

Vickie,

Glad to help where I can. The website isn't as revealing as his two books. They are both fantastic, for different reasons to a degree.

Matt

My PT had me do this one. Good since it is not as static as others. Promotes balance and interaction with other muscles.

1. Lay nose-down on a soft carpet.
2. Grab a weight of any size you can work.
3. Raise head, arms and legs.
4. With straight arms move the weight in circles.
5. Never let weight, head, arms or legs touch the carpet or floor.
6. Switch hand behind the back and in front.
7. Remember straight arms.
8. Swing the weight 7 laps clockwise.
9. Change direction and swing the weight 7 laps counter-clockwise.
10. Rest a few seconds
11. Repeat once

If this one does not strengthen your lower back I do not know. :salut:

Great info Matt but one thing:

That woman demonstrating the hyperextension is doing what i see most people in the gym doing incorrectly, over extending when they come back to a "in line condition." Notice how much curvature is in her lower back? No good. If you are doing hyper extensions make sure you don't "over do it" when you come back up.

That dead lift guy is dead on perfect though

Agreed Jim, she does have probably a bit too much range of motion. I like to keep my head up and that keeps me from extending down too far.