5 exercises to fix non-specific low back pain

Most people at some point in their life will experience low back pain that isn't related to a specific condition. So in this video I'll provide five exercises to help you resolve it. Hi everyone and welcome to Exercise for Health and today I'll provide five great exercises you can do to help relieve low back pain. Before I go through them it's important to note that these exercises will help manage low back pain symptoms that are not attributed to a certain spinal condition. Therefore if you have a diagnosed condition of the spine or you're experiencing other symptoms such as shooting pains down the leg or have problems with certain bodily functions you should seek medical advice from your doctor. The exercises that follow are for people that get that niggle in their lower back muscles because they've been sat down too long maybe in poor posture or have felt a twinge when lifting something or twisting or may have developed a dull ache over time that they can't attribute a cause for it. Unfortunately in today's modern world we are more prone to being less active and lead in sedentary lifestyles and this causes an increase in muscle weakness particularly of the glute and core muscles which causes the lower back muscles to become overloaded during day-to-day activities which in turn causes the muscle pain in the lower back. The good news is that in most cases this non-specific back pain accounts for about 90% of reported cases and it can usually be resolved in a matter of weeks. Most types of exercise are highly recommended such as walking, swimming, cycling, going to the gym etc but the following five exercises will help you resolve your symptoms directly. It will only take about 10 minutes out of your day to do them and you can perform them on three to five days a week to build up the strength and stability required to reduce the low back pain. So let's now take a look at the five exercises I recommend. For the first one start on all fours so you can perform the cat camel. This is a great way to mobilize the lumbar spine by tilting the pelvis forwards and backwards activating the muscles around the core. Make sure your hands are directly under your shoulders and your knees are directly under your hips throughout the exercise. The aim is to get as much motion in the spine as you can until you've done eight to ten slow movements each way, pausing at the end range for a couple of seconds on each one. The second one also begins on all fours so you can perform the bird dog. This is a great core exercise and focuses on maintaining stability of the spine throughout the movement. Make a fist with one arm and extend out in front of you while at the same time extend the opposite leg back behind you with the forefoot pulled backwards as though you're driving the heel of the foot back. Be careful not to raise the leg too high as this can begin to move the lower back and the aim is to keep the spine still during the arm and leg movement. Hold the end position for a couple of seconds, return the leg and arm back in as though your knee and your opposite elbow almost meet underneath you, then extend again. Maintain your balance on the other hand and knee and after performing the movement eight to ten times repeat the exercise on the opposite side. The third exercise starts lying on one side of your body to prepare for a kickback which combines extension and abduction of the hip to target the glute medius muscle in an open chain exercise. Supporting yourself with your arm and ensuring your hips are stacked one on top of the other, start by bringing the knee of the top leg in front of you towards the floor and then slowly begin to extend the leg behind you and raise up away from the floor. Make sure the pelvis doesn't rock so your torso should remain stationary and also make sure your toes of your foot don't rotate to point upwards. Again like with the first two perform eight to ten of these movements slowly pausing at the top for an additional squeeze on each one before swapping to the other side. The fourth exercise starts lying on your back with your arms to the side to perform the single leg glute bridge. Bring one foot close to your bottom, bend in the knee while the other leg remains straight, then press the lower back and foot hard into the floor to slowly raise the hips up whilst allowing the other straight leg to also come up but ensuring that your pelvis stays level and doesn't tilt to one side. If you feel it in your hamstrings too much then try bringing your foot closer to your bottom to bend the knee more. As before do this slowly eight to ten times pausing at the top to really activate the glutes before lowering each time and then switch to do the opposite side. The final exercise is done standing next to a wall for balance and is hitching the hip to engage the glute medius muscle of the support leg in a closed chain exercise. Using the wall only for balance to one side place all of your weight on the foot furthest away from the wall. Imagine sliding the other hip up the wall which will hitch the hip causing the hip of the support leg to move inwards towards the wall slightly. Pause at the top for a second or two before lowering and only after two or three reps you should really feel the muscle on the outside of the hip beginning to fire up meaning that you have the technique correct. Do eight to ten reps as with the other exercises before swapping to do this one on the other side. I hope the exercises in this video help relieve your low back pain symptoms if so please give it a like by clicking the thumbs up button below and consider subscribing if you haven't already, but thank you so much for watching and remember to stay active and keep moving to feel better!