As women, our daily lives leave us vulnerable to lower back pain due to the strain of multitasking and constantly shifting from one task to another. Whether you’re up in your high heels all day at work or tending to the kids after a long day, it’s essential that we find ways to stay on top of our health by taking the necessary steps for prevention: exercising regularly! Let us help get you started with 20-minute exercises specifically designed for preventing lower back pain. Keep reading for tips and tricks on how you can keep your body healthy and save headaches down the line!
Preparing Your Body for Exercise
After a long day at work, the last thing you may feel like doing is going for a run or lifting some weights. It’s tempting to just jump right into your workout but it’s important to warm up your muscles first. Taking a few minutes to do some dynamic stretching and foam rolling before your exercise routine can help reduce soreness and improve performance.
Professional athletes often rely on detailed warm-up routines before they compete – it’s just as important for us weekend warriors, too! After all, a well-practiced warm-up will ensure that you get the most out of your workout.
Strengthening Exercises
Strengthening your core and glutes doesn’t have to involve strenuous exercises or a lot of time. With just a few targeted movements, you can give those areas the attention they need. Planks are an excellent way to strengthen your core, while squats and bridges target your gluteus muscles.
All you need is some clear floor space and 10 minutes of your day to get in a quick workout that will leave you feeling energized! So next time you’re looking for a new challenge, try adding planks, squats, and bridges into your routine.
Increase Flexibility
If you’re looking for a way to increase your range of motion, yoga poses are a great way to achieve that! They can benefit both the body and mind by not only helping to release physical tension through stretches and breathwork but also providing mental clarity.
Cat-cow pose helps improve posture, cobra pose helps improve spinal flexibility and strengthens the back muscles, and going into the classic downward dog gives an all-over stretch that helps lengthen hamstrings, calves, and spine. This said the trio of poses should be enough to help you out!
Improve Balance
Working on your balance is a great way to stay fit, increase stability, and even reduce the chance of potential injury. One brilliant exercise to practice balance is the single-leg Romanian deadlift.
This exercise is great for developing that core-to-extremity control that can help you feel confident and stable in any situation, whether you’re running, doing yoga flows, or lifting weights. You’ll need to use a lot of your active stabilizing muscles but it’s a fun challenge to learn and master!
Prevent Injury
In our fitness culture, it’s become increasingly important to take measures to prevent potential injury. After all, nothing derails progress like an injury. A great way of keeping your joints healthy and strong is by incorporating mobility drills like shoulder passes into your routine.
Not only are these exercises easy to do, but they can also be done anywhere – making them a perfect option for when you’re short on time or don’t have access to the gym! And, with regular practice, you can significantly reduce the risk of any joint injuries occurring in the future. So, why wait? Add a few shoulder passes into your warm-up and start seeing the benefits for yourself!
Cool Down
Finishing up a physical activity session with a few minutes of stretching is the perfect way to cool down. Not only will it relax your body, but you’ll increase flexibility and range of motion as well. Stretching can also help to reduce the risk of injury and relieve sore muscles. Taking the time to stretch at the end of every activity session will keep your body feeling its best, even as you challenge it further each time.
Overall, taking the time to practice exercises that prepare your body before a workout, strengthening your core and glutes, increasing flexibility, improving balance, preventing injury, and cooling down afterward can give you an effective and safe exercise session.
Not only will you achieve the physical results you desire from exercising but also incorporate other aspects for improved functionality. Remember to take care of yourself as incorporating stretching into your routine is vital to create healthy habits. Taking the time to now introduce these stretches into your workouts can have long-term positive benefits for your physical health and well-being. So go ahead; get started today and have fun with it!