If you’re working from home and spend countless hours sitting glued to your chair, it’s only a matter of time before back pain strikes.
The nine back injury prevention exercises that are covered in this blog post will fix your bad posture and bulletproof your back from injury so that you can return to work with more energy and focus.
Sedentary lifestyles and prolonged sitting positions increase the anterior tilt of the pelvis, which tightens the hip flexors and opposing low back extensors.
Not being strong enough to oppose the force of the anterior tilt, the deep abdominal and gluteal muscles ultimately become weak.
The net result of these overly tight and weak muscles is an increased anterior pelvic tilt with increased lumbar lordosis.
These postural distortions and muscle imbalances are referred to as Lower Crossed Syndrome.
So, to correct Lower Cross Syndrome, you want to stretch the tight muscles and strengthen the weak muscles.
9 Back Injury Prevention Exercises
Back Injury Prevention Exercises #1: Hip Flexor Stretch
The first exercise you want to do is a hip flexor stretch, so you’re going to stretch your hip flexors right through the anterior part for about 30 seconds. So, you start in this lunge position, bring your belly button in towards your spine, hold your knee, and slightly lean forward.
You want to try to create a little bit of a posterior tilt in your pelvis by bringing your belly button into your spine. Make sure that your knee is not in front of your foot.
Back Injury Prevention Exercises #2: Side-lying Quad Stretch
Now you’re going to do a side-lying quad stretch. Grab your foot, and bring it back towards your butt for 30 seconds. Then you want to switch sides. Grab your foot, and bring it back towards your glutes for 30 seconds. Just take nice, easy breaths.
Back Injury Prevention Exercises #3: Double Knee to Chest Stretch
Bring both knees toward your chest for two seconds, and repeat 20 times.
Take a deep breath and then exhale and bring your knees to your chest.
Back Injury Prevention Exercises #4: Pelvic Tilt
You want to bring your abs in and tighten your glutes, flattening this lower back curve. You don’t want to be able to reach your hand underneath. Abs in, tighten your glutes, hold it for a couple of seconds, and then relax.
Repeat 20 times.
Back Injury Prevention Exercises #5: Plank
Hold for 30 seconds to a minute. Your points of contact are your forearm and your toes. Bring your belly button towards your spine and tighten your quads.
Back Injury Prevention Exercises #6: Side Plank
Transition into the side plank. Make sure your elbow is right underneath your shoulder. Hold for 30 seconds. Then repeat the side plank on the opposite side.
Back Injury Prevention Exercises #7: Bird Dog
Start in an all-fours position and straighten the opposite arm and leg, and hold them like that for five seconds. Repeat ten times, then switch sides.
Back Injury Prevention Exercises #7: Donkey Kicks
Start on your hands and knees, and then thrust your foot back up, lifting your hips. Hold it for a couple of seconds, and repeat 10 to 20 times. Then switch sides.
Whenever you feel like you’re getting weak, push a little bit more, you’ll get better.
The last two exercises are going to be using a resistance band loop.
Back Injury Prevention Exercises #8: Bridge with Loop
Start on your back, and then put your feet through the resistance band loop so it’s right above your knees.
Now you want to get into a bridge pose and lift your pelvis. Hold it for a couple of seconds and then drop.
Repeat 10 to 20 times.
Back Injury Prevention Exercises #9: Clamshell with Loop
Now you get on your side with your knees and ankles pressed together. Then you open your hips and rest yourself onto your elbow.
Do about 10 to 20 clamshell hip openers.
Conclusion
So there you have it -nine exercises to help correct lower cross syndrome. All right, I hope this helps, and I hope you notice that your posture is a lot better, and you’re no longer experiencing lower back pain from sitting through too much.
Even though stretching and strengthening are my go-to recommendations for fixing back problems, it’s essential to figure out the root cause of why you’re feeling your back pain in the first place.
If you’re working from home, it could be the way you’re sitting on the edge of your chair and not sitting against the backrest. Maybe it’s the way that you’ve organized your workspace, and you need to reach and twist your body constantly.
Whatever it may be, I want to invite you to take my free self-assessment quiz to determine how much you know about setting up an ergonomic home office.