Last Updated on September 22, 2021 by FS Studios Personal Training
Okay, there are probably way more than three exercises that can hurt your back but these days, we are running into more and more people that are trying new exercise routines and ending up with sciatica, sore lower backs and sore butts.
None of this is a good time for you or your butt.
So, we need to help you out and teach you how to avoid some of these exercises.
Now, part of the issue is that any exercise done improperly can lead to sore muscles or worse yet, possible injury.
So, the first thing we need to do is make sure you’re using your core properly.
This is something we can teach you during a personal training session. When you’re ready to start something like that let us know, but for now let’s give you a few tips so you can stay safe.
For now, let’s look at the first type of exercise that hurts your lower back.
1 Leg Hyperextension Exercises
The first tip to avoid low back pain from exercises is to avoid hyperextension exercises.
As you can see from the picture above, exercises of this nature can put tremendous pressure on the back and the glutes and the nerves running through them.
If you follow Instagram at all, you’ll notice that a lot of people are trying to grow their glutes and many of the recommendations exercise wise to achieve this is to focus on hyperextending the leg backwards.
This can crunch our lower backs and cause inflammation and pain if overdone.
These exercises also need to be offset by exercises going the other direction so that the body can remain balanced.
In other words, you don’t want to be just kicking backwards. You also want to be kicking forwards.
Even if you’re doing hyperextension while lying on your stomach during a yoga class, you can still overdue this pattern.
So be careful with any hyperextension.
The second type of exercise you want to avoid to save your back is any deep squatting or lunging.
2 Deep Squats & Lunges
This is typically just too aggressive and challenging for the lower back.
Partly because things tend to get a bit messy when we go low.
We want to take care of our spines and taking them deep into slightly more precarious positions.
Deep lunges and squats aren’t a good way to keep them safe.
Instead, you want to start with much more mild exercises and progressively build up from there.
Not all of us are meant to squat deeply and certainly not all of us are meant to take on large amounts of load either.
If you feel uncomfortable with a movement, let’s leave it to the competitive athletes and just enjoy exercises that protect our spine and don’t hurt our back.
3 Deadlifts
The last type of exercise that can hurt your lower back is deadlifts.
Deadlifts have become really popular as of late with the advent of CrossFit.
Deadlifts are a great exercise for certain people under certain circumstances.
They are also an extremely technical exercise and should only be used if absolutely required.
If there’s no genuine need to deadlift, then it may be an exercise that should be avoided in your routine.
There are many other ways to achieve a good hip hinge and develop muscles in this pattern that don’t require the intensity or technicality of a deadlift.
So take care of that lower back the next time you’re feeling some aches and pains. Stop the exercise, avoid the activity and trust that there are better ways to train your body for optimal function. We promise you there are.
Best of health,
FS Studios
