In this video, I'm going to show easy back pain relief
exercises designed for those that are obese or overweight.
Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
easy back pain relief exercises that are going to focus on
lengthening but more importantly, strengthening the
main muscles associated with lower back pain so that way we
can get both quick and long-lasting relief. Great part
is these are designed for those that are dealing with obesity
or being overweight. So, no complex movements and no
equipment is needed. I know nobody wants to hear this but
it is one of those videos that you'll get the best results if
you do all of the exercises also in order they work
together to help identify the muscles that are giving you the
most amount of pain so my best advice go through them all use
what gives you the most relief another note if these exercises
are really helping try to do all of the exercises maybe two
to three times a week as a routine because again they're
going to help strengthen the muscles and maybe will give you
long-lasting relief. With that being said, let's get started.
So, let's start by focusing on a big overlooked cause of back
pain which is tightness and weakness in our anterior chain
muscles. That's our core muscles and our hip flexors.
Not only is it important to have a strong back but we also
need a strong front to stabilize the spine in the
middle. So, let's go over a couple exercises that are
really going to help. The first one is a modified version of
what is called the bear crawl. We're going to start on all
fours on a floor just like this and I would put a pillow or
towel underneath your knees too if you need it but what we want
to do first is brace or tighten our core muscles. You know how
when somebody tries to poke you in your stomach, how you tense
those muscles up, mimic that and hold that during this
exercise and also squeeze your glutes. It's going to help
protect the spine a little bit more. So, what we're going to
do first is just place all of our body weight onto our hands
and mine are roughly about shoulder width apart and then
we're going to place all of our lower body weight onto our toes
and then you're just going to slowly lift your knees upward
towards the ceiling you don't have to go up that far just go
up enough where you feel those core muscles really start to
activate it should feel like a very comfortable activation
don't go to the point that you're feeling anymore pain but
in this position again you should really feel those core
muscles start to fire you want to hold this comfortably for
three to five seconds you're going to relax take a breather
and then repeat this five to 10 times and with each repetition
try to go up just a little bit more to get those muscles to
tighten up even more it's all about building strength but
afterwards see how you feel if it feels like you have a little
bit more energy try to throw in another set or two so let's
take this one to the next level by doing an exercise called the
bird dog the bird dog is going to help target a little bit
more in the front of our thighs over the hip flexors but also
the glutes two important muscles again for helping to
strengthen the spine and hopefully lead to a lot less
lower back pain. So, we're going to start on all force
again but this time around, what I'm going to do is slowly
slide one foot back like this pointing my toes away as far as
I can. It's like really trying to reach out with your foot.
You should feel a really good activation into the calf
muscles that works up towards the thigh and then towards the
glutes. You really want to feel all of those muscles from the
toes to your glutes start to fire. Once you feel that,
you're then going to slowly lift your leg up like this
while pointing your toes away. You're really going to start to
feel it right here into the core muscles at this point.
Hold this comfortably for three to 5 seconds. You're going to
lower your leg and then you're just going to repeat this on
the other side. Do this nice and slowly for five to 10
repetitions in both directions but again, afterwards, see how
you feel. If it feels like you have a little bit more energy,
Try to throw in another set or two. So, with this exercise,
we're going to focus more on the posterior chain muscles.
That's the back, the glutes, and the hamstrings. One of the
easiest daily exercises that you can do including in bed is
the bridge. So, to get into position, you're going to lie
flat on your back just like this. You want your knees bent,
feet flat. I like to have my legs roughly hip width apart.
During this exercise, you can take your hands, put them on
your hips, or you can place them off to your side. So
again, we're going to start off by bracing our core muscles.
Think getting poked in your stomach and tightening those
muscles. Let's squeeze the glutes to help protect the
spine. From here, we're going to just slowly lift our hips
upward towards the ceiling as much as we can. The goal is to
get your body in a straight line from your knees to your
hips to your shoulders. I know a lot of people won't be able
to do that either due to pain or weakness like let's say you
can only go up a little bit. Do the best you can. Hopefully,
over time, you'll gain strength and flexibility to get in this
position but you should feel a ton of muscles start to fire.
The core, the back, the glutes, and right here over the
hamstrings. Everything that helps support the lower back
and the hips. You want to hold this comfortably for three to
five seconds. You're going to relax and then you're going to
repeat this five to ten times and with each repetition,
challenge yourself to go up just a little bit more. If it
feels like you have more energy try to throw in another set or
two so let's take the bridge to the next level make it more
challenging and target some more muscles what I like to do
is a marching motion just like this to make it a lot harder so
let's get back into our original bridge position but
we're going to lift one knee up just like this and hold it for
a brief second lower it and then do it on the other side so
essentially what we're trying to do is a marching motion but
what you really want to focus on while doing this is making
sure that your hips and pelvis are kept even so we don't
want to tilt down like that if that's the case really focus on
trying to drive that hip up so everything is nice and level
you can also do what is known as a clamshell bridge which are
going to target the hips just a little bit more so if you have
back and hip pain give this one a try take your feet put them
together just press them in slightly like this and then
wing your knees out as much as you can until you feel a really
good stretch form in the inner part of the thigh going towards
the groin and then into the hips. Once you feel that, the
movement is very similar. We're just going to lift the hips up
towards the ceiling til our body is in that nice straight
line but this time around, you're really going to feel it
on the outside of your hips. I like this one. It usually feels
pretty good. Three to five second hold. Relax five to 10
times. Throw in another set or two if you are able to. The
other muscle that we really want to target are our
hamstring right here on the back of our thighs. A lot of
times, people will have tight or even weak hamstrings that
leads to postural issues and back pain. So, for this one,
we're going to do what is called a hamstring walkout.
Let's get back into our original position just like
this. We're going to then do the bridge but I'm going to
point my toes up towards the ceiling and gently press my
heels into the bed or if you're on the floor, just press em
into the floor and you're going to slowly walk your heels out
just like just a little bit with each one as you do this
you're really going to feel it in the back of your hamstrings
I would go very slowly with this one because if you do have
a lot of tightness you might get initial cramp so build into
it just your comfort level only but I like to do this one for
about three to five times just slowly walking out like this
but if it feels good and it's helping out you can definitely
throw in as many repetitions as you like so with this we're now
going to focus on strengthening the legs but more importantly
the glutes any patient that comes into my office knows that
I always stress the glutes the glutes the glutes when it comes
to back pain it's one of the most important muscles in the
body but unfortunately we sit on them all day long so here's
a really easy way to help strengthen them we're going to
do what is called a wall sit for this one we need a smooth
wall or a door just put your whole backside flush against it
for support your legs are going to be roughly hip width apart,
slightly spaced out in front of you. Take your toes and just
point them out slightly like five to 10 degrees. It'll help
take tension off of the knees and you're going to put all of
your body weight onto your heels during this exercise.
From here, we're going to gently brace our core muscles.
So again, think somebody poking you in your stomach and then
gently squeeze your glutes. I like to take my hands, put them
in a prayer position, and then just press them into my chest
just like this. So, the movement very straightforward.
We're just going to bend our knees and squat our bottom down
towards the floor. The further you go down, the more
challenging this will be. You'll really feel it into the
quadriceps right here and you'll also feel it into the
glutes. Go down as far as you can and then hold this for 5
seconds and then you're just going to slide back up like
this. Take a breather and then repeat this five to 10 times.
With each repetition, challenge yourself to go down just a
little bit more. It'll help build more strength.
Afterwards, see how you If it feels like you have more
energy, try to throw in another set or two. So, after we're
done with the strengthening exercises, we want to finish
with stretching. Stretching is going to help keep everything
loose after those exercises but also help avoid soreness. This
one is going to be a combination exercise that you
can do in bed or on a floor. So, let's start off on our
stomach just like this. What I'd like to do is keep my hips
flat during this exercise. It's known as the cobra. Great yoga
pose. We're going to take our hands, put them together just
like this, and we're going to support our upper body weight
onto our forearms, kind of like in a V shape. In this position,
you should feel a gentle stretch in the back but more
importantly, you should feel a really good stretch in our core
muscles and also going into the front of our thighs into the
hip flexor. What you want to do is just raise your shoulders up
like this as much as you can while keeping your hips flat
until you feel that gentle stretch. You want to hold this
for 20 to 30 seconds and do nice, slow, controlled
breathing. Let out as much tension as you can. If this
feels pretty good though, you can hold it for longer. 45
seconds a minute. Hold it as long as you like. It's just a
really really great stretch but if you need a breather, just
lower your chest down like this. What I'd like to do is
about three to five repetitions and with each repetition, I try
to build into it just a little bit more by raising my
shoulders up just a little bit more. If this is pretty easy,
you can then go into the full cobra. What we're going to do
this time around is take our hands put them off to our side
roughly about shoulder level right here and then tuck our
elbows in and then you're just going to use your arms right
here to press up even more the key is do not let your hips
lift off so you want them nice and flat all stretch come
through the back through the hips and also into the front of
your thighs this one feels really really good so if you're
ready progress into that one and when you're ready so the
next one what we're going to do is called the scorpion and this
is a personal favorite for many because it can end in a
satisfying self-pop cracker release in your lower back. So,
let's get back into that original cobra position of just
resting on our forearms just like this but this time around,
we're going to bend our knees roughly at 90 degrees and then
put our legs together. So, our feet are straight up towards
the ceiling. What you're going to do first is just slowly
rotate your feet and legs towards one side but you only
want to go to the point where you feel a really good stretch
into the glutes. So, it should feel like right around the
hips. Once you feel that good stretch, you're going to hold
this right here for about three to five seconds. You're going
to go back to the middle and then repeat on the other side.
So, it's almost kind of like a windshield wiper going side to
side. I like to do this roughly for about five repetitions on
both sides and then, what I'm going to do next is take this
one to the next level by deepening the stretch and going
a little bit more into the lower back. So, this around
instead of just focusing on feeling that stretch into the
hips go a little bit further with it until you feel a really
deep stretch form in the back this kind of puts a corkscrew
effect in there and again you might get that pop that you're
looking for but don't try to force it again 3 to five second
hold you're going to come back up and then you're going to
repeat on the other side but go through all of those motions if
you feel like one is helping you out a little bit more at
that point try to throw some more repetitions in if the
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