I want to start this blog post by talking about why we have back pain. First, back pain or discomfort can be caused from a number of things including disc herniation, hip misalignment, muscle strain, nerve impingement, and a bunch of other possibilities. But let’s talk about why these injuries happen. Americans in today’s society spend an inordinate amount of time sitting at a desk, on a couch, or in a car. We often spend the majority of our day in a hip flexion position which shortens the hip flexors and lengthens and weakens the glute muscles. Now I am about to oversimplify a very complex anatomical compensation but I want this blog to be understandable and accessible to everyone. Essentially, when our glutes are weak, muscles in the low back compensate to help stabilize the pelvis. Now of course there’s a lot more that is happening with the body when there’s a muscular imbalance but the essence here is that we want to strengthen those underutilized muscles to try to alleviate some of that imbalance. So here are the top 5 exercises to increase glute strength, core stabilization, and hopefully help with some of your back pain.
Bird Dog (Dandayamana Bharmanasana)
How to do it: Get onto your hands and knees with a neutral spine. Try to envision the four natural curves in your spine and maintain those curves throughout. Extend your right leg and your left arm at the same time parallel to the ground, drawing the naval to the spine. Release and switch sides. Pay special attention to using your core to stabilize your trunk and avoid excessive movement between your head and your tailbone. Repeat this 6 times on each side.
Bridge (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
How to do it: Lie on your back with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent. Bring your arms out to your sides in a T or overhead to avoid using your hands to do the work. As you inhale, contract your glutes and your abdominals and lift your hips up. Holding the posture for 6 seconds while continuing to maintain that contraction in the glutes and abs. Perform this 6 times.
Superman (viparita shalabhasana)
In a prone position, lying on your stomach with arms by your sides and legs extended. Allow one cheek to rest on the ground. As you inhale, lift your legs and arms up in the air and bring your head to neutral gazing about 6 inches in front of you (maintaining the neutral cervical spine). Hold for 6 seconds contracting the glutes by squeezing your cheeks together. If this hurts at all, only lift the legs. Perform this 6 times.
Cat/Cow (Bitilasana/Marjaiasana)
This is a very common yoga pose that you will see in almost every single yoga class. Beginning in a table top position on your hands and knees with a neutral spine. In cow pose, as you inhale you are going to exaggerate the arch in your back, pressing your navel to the ground while lifting your chin, chest, and tailbone to the sky. In cat pose, as you exhale, exaggerate the contraction of your abdominal muscles by pulling the navel to the spine and pressing the low back toward the sky and bringing your chin to your chest. In this pose, really focus on the contraction of the abdominals and glutes in cat pose. Repeat for 6-10 breaths.
Chair Pose (Utkatasana)
This is a great one to do both for balance, core stability, and glute strength. Beginning in a standing position with feet hip width apart and hands down by your sides. Maintaining the neutral spine as you sit back as though you are going to sit in a chair. This is one you should really do in a mirror. Make sure as you sit back in the chair, you are maintaining that neutral spine with the 4 curves in the sacral, lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spine. Draw the sides of the navel inward, squeeze the glutes and inner thighs, and open the heart. Hold for 6 seconds and repeat.
Back pain can really be a tough thing to navigate but most of the time regular movement will be helpful as long as you are performing the appropriate movements with a focus on alignment, proper body mechanics, and muscle activation. Let me know how these worked for you!