Hot. Sweaty. Hard work. Is that how you see exercise and avoid it? Well, lucky for you, a New York City low back pain sufferer, there’s a less hot, sweaty, hard way to exercise some of the most important muscles in your spine: the multifidus and iliocostalis lumborum muscles. Rosenberg Wellness Center shares recent information about these back muscles, these stabilizing and connecting muscles in the low back and how to strengthen them subtly and easily.

Now, just so our New York City well-fit chiropractic clients don’t think this is relevant to them, [[companyname] wants to share that  seemingly fit people may even get back pain because their exercise routine may not engage these crucial muscles, leaving them at risk for back pain and weak muscles. Really. One case report certainly brings to light. A male athlete who does heavy deadlifts, squats, bent-over rows and other lumbar spine loading weight training exercises lost 42% of his lumbar strength over 10 years! This resulted in “disuse atrophy” of lumbar spine muscles. (1) Basically, these exercises, as intense and demanding as they are, didn’t reach and work all his muscles. And daily activities certainly don’t activate all of these muscles to the point of being stimulated to gain strength.

So what is needed to build strength and keep these lumbar spine muscles strong? Lumbar extension training. Lumbar extensors are usually found to be weak, yet they’re quite responsive to exercise. It’s reported in a new paper that multifidus and iliocostalis lumborum muscles are most responsive when the pelvis is stabilized during extension exercise. (2) What does this entail? Keeping the involvement of the hip extensors low. This, in turn, provides improved recruitment of lumbar extensors. (2,3)

A newly described way of doing this allows anyone to do lumbar extensor strengthening about anywhere with little exertion: standing in line at the grocery store, sitting at a red light, talking on the phone. No one even needs to know you’re doing it! This is how: Not engaging the legs, sitting up straight or standing straight, tighten up the back muscles over 2 to 3 seconds then hold for 1 before releasing. Rest for 10 seconds, then repeat. (2) These are isometric lumbar extension exercises. Simple, right?

So contact Rosenberg Wellness Center to discuss your struggle with back pain as well as your New York City exercise routine to keep strong. Together, Rosenberg Wellness Center and you can fill any holes in the routine to keep your spine strong and back pain at bay without even a sweat!