Sport

Sport plays an important role in the prevention of a slipped disc, because through sport and special gymnastic exercises the back muscles can be strengthened specifically. It should be noted that sport in general does not necessarily bring about an improvement. For example, playing soccer or jogging as a hobby has hardly any effect on the back muscles, which should be strengthened to prevent a herniated disc.

So not all sports are the same. Rather, sports that strengthen the back are more useful. In addition to yoga, these include weight training and sports that naturally challenge the back, such as climbing or judo.

It is often more fun to learn a sport than to lift weights in the gym. When climbing, the entire back is strained, as you always work with your arms upside down. In recent years, climbing gyms with high safety standards and experienced staff have sprung up in almost every major city in Germany.

Those who do not want to climb can also try swimming or judo. These are very low-injury and joint-gentle sports that put a lot of strain on the back muscles and thus build them up. Of course there is also the possibility to strengthen the back by isolated exercises.

Below are several examples of this: You lie flat on your stomach and stretch your arms frontally forward, i.e. in such a way that you have stretched out your arms to the maximum. Now, in this position, both arms are lifted simultaneously, while the rest of the body remains lying flat on the stomach. Depending on how strong your back muscles are, you can raise your hands more or less high and do more or less repetitions.

For a start, lifting ten times is a good value. This exercise can be varied: Advanced students lift both arms and legs at the same time, so that only the abdomen and pelvis are on the ground. Here too, ten repetitions per set is considered a good value.

The position can also be held for half a minute or a whole minute, for example. It is important that the position is performed correctly and slowly. In case of pain the exercise should be stopped.

Exercises should never be performed hectically or according to the principle “as many repetitions as possible in the shortest possible time”. It is much more strenuous to do an exercise slowly than quickly. If you lift a very heavy suitcase first quickly and then very slowly, what is more strenuous?

The exercises should be carried out exactly according to this principle. For another exercise lie flat on your back. Now bend both legs and place them on the floor in front of you.

Now press your pelvis upwards so that the weight of your upper body rests on your shoulders, the weight of your lower limb on your bent legs. Now push your pelvis several times from its initial position towards the ceiling until about 10 repetitions are achieved. This mainly strengthens the trunk muscles and the abdominal muscles.

Both are important for stabilizing the back and can prevent a slipped disc. You can find many more exercises under our topic: Exercises for / against a slipped discStrength training is certainly a good way to build up strong back muscles. However, you should pay very close attention to the correct execution of the exercises, because in the gym, as nowhere else, injuries can occur to a considerable extent, which cause lasting damage to the body.

If you have never worked out in a fitness studio before, it may be advisable to visit a gym where you will receive individual personal advice. In most cases, the employees know exactly which exercises are useful if they want to strengthen the back in a targeted manner. Of course, there is also the possibility to hire a personal trainer.

The advantage of strength training in a gym is that you can vary your weight individually, whereas with exercises at home the body weight is more or less always the same. There are also completely different possibilities, such as assisted pull-ups with only a few kilos of weight. Of course, the aim should not be to build up muscle mountains, but to strengthen the many small muscle groups that together make up the back.

Most of the newer gyms also offer yoga classes. Yoga is a sport that works a lot with dead weight and isometric exercises. Isometric means that the body is in an extreme state of tension during the exercise, which means a high energy expenditure.

An example of isometric force would be if you tried to lift your car. Of course, the car does not move because it weighs over a ton. That’s why the arms don’t move either, because the car can’t be lifted.

Still, the whole thing is extremely exhausting. There are intramuscular tension changes without the muscles moving themselves. Yoga is therefore a sport that works a lot with its own weight and tension and can therefore be very strenuous. The big advantage is that injuries are hardly possible and, in addition, psychological balance is achieved by concentrating on the body and meditation-like states.