Introduction
The muscles of the lower back can include the broad back muscle, the large gluteus muscle and especially the back extensor. There are also muscles that lie even deeper, such as the straightening back muscle, which runs along the spine and can therefore also partly be counted as part of the lower back. These muscles ensure that one can walk, stand and sit upright. If the lower back is well trained, posture improves and you should not suffer from back pain due to muscle weakness in this area.
Exercises
Especially people who work in an office, for example, often complain of back pain caused by frequent sitting and the increasingly weakened back muscles. However, even simple exercises can bring about an enormous improvement and eliminate the pain: The starting position is sitting on a chair with a 90 degree angle between lower and upper thigh. From this position you let your upper body sink slowly down to your legs so that your chest rests on your thighs.
The arms and head are left hanging. In this position you should spend a few seconds and breathe into your stomach with concentration. Then roll your back up vertebra by vertebra until you are sitting upright on your chair.
You can repeat this exercise up to five times and do it everywhere. Stretching your back while lying down also relieves pain in your lower back and can also be done at home or in the office. Pelvic circling is another exercise that can be used to eliminate pain in the lumbar region.
Strengthening of the lower back muscles
If you want to strengthen your lower back muscles, you can achieve good results with simple exercises. One exercise that is a bit more difficult to perform, but is also well suited to strengthen the lower back muscles, is back stretching with counter-movement. The starting position is again the four-footed position, from which the left arm and right leg are stretched forward and backward respectively.
The head is in extension of the spine. From this position, the left arm and right leg are now guided under the body in a counter-movement so that the back becomes slightly rounded. From this position you can now go directly back into the stretching position and repeat the sequence a few times on each side.
A good beginner’s exercise is to lift your legs back on the floor while standing on your four feet. To do this, first step into the four-footed position on a blanket or yoga mat. Only the hands, knees and lower legs rest on the floor.
The head is in extension of the spine. Now the left and right leg is alternately lifted backwards and upwards. Ideally there is always a 90 degree angle in the knee joint. Then the lifted leg is stretched out completely before it is brought back into the quadruped position.
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