Exercises for Low Back pain in St. Charles IL

Back Exercises to Keep You Out of your St. Charles IL Chiropractor's Office

If your low back hurts, your core is not working. Contrary to popular belief, your core is not weak. It is uncoordinated. The muscles are there. They are most likely strong enough. They just don't know when or how to hold your back up so it doesn't hurt. If you learn and apply the proper use of your core, you can eliminate some to all of your low back pain. That keeps you out of pain, and out of my office in St. Charles IL.

Core exercises to save you from the chiropractor and the surgeon:

These are to be done in order. Do not proceed with the next one, until you are proficient with each exercise. You are rebuilding the coordination of your entire middle. All the muscles that connect the top of your pelvis to the bottom of your rib cage. All the muscles that wrap your middle; front, back and sides. I call these the 360 degree-all the way around you-muscles. It is not just the sit up muscles in your front. Those are frequently over built, often causing low back pain.

Diaphragm breathing. This sounds easy, but is the most difficult one to get right. When you breathe in, your stomach should stick out a little. Most people breathe by lifting their rib cage and shoulders. This is not a resting breath pattern and is incorrect. You need to have someone watch you do this. There are not too many people that get this right the first time. Practice this standing, sitting and lying down until you breathe that way naturally.
Bracing your core. Learn to tighten not only your front abdominal muscles, but your side muscles and your back muscles. This is best performed by having someone gently push you side to side, and front to back, while you are bracing your entire core. You should be solid as they push. You shouldn't look like a Weeble, all wobbly.
Bracing and diaphragm breathing: Now you have to diaphragm breath while you brace. Again tighten your 360 degree core and diaphragm breathe at the same time. Practice this using 10 breaths while standing, sitting and lying down. Do all of these three times per day for a week.
Apply this progressively: When you can brace and breath at the same time, now do front wall planks while bracing and breathing. Stand arm length away from the wall, brace, and slide your hands up the wall until you are on your elbows. Hold the position while you take two breathes. Push yourself back out and repeat 5 times.
When you can perform a front wall plank, then you can progress to side wall plank.
When you can successfully wall plank, now you can front knee plank, followed by side knee plank, followed by front toe plank, then side toe plank.
(Most people go straight to toe planking. They are able to do it but are not using the correct form, which is bracing and diaphragm breathing, at the same time.)

I know and teach these exercises because they have worked for me. I had disabling low back pain starting at age 9. This was further aggravated by playing football. Prior to learning how the core truly works, my back still went out on me several times per year. As a chiropractor, that always looked bad.

Since I have learned bracing the core exercises, my chronic back pain has not put me down.

This is what I pass onto my patients. If they perform the core bracing exercises I teach them, they get better faster, and maintain a pain free and healthy back much longer.

Brace your core, and exercise. You will see me a lot less. It also helps you avoid the surgeon.

Contact Fox Valley Chiropractic Physicians today.

Be healthy,

DRG