hey everybody it's doctor jo and super bear,
and today i'm going to show you my favorite core exercises for back pain
so let's get started. before we get started
So before we get started,
if you haven't already, make sure and click on the subscribe button below
because it helps my channel grow. so we're going to do lying down on my
fabulous futon and this is just to show if you can't get on the floor, you can do
these on the floor you can do them on your couch or your bed.
so let's go ahead and lie down. and we're going to start off with
pelvic tilts and pelvic tilts sometimes sound and look easy, but they're a little
tougher than you would think because you need to do them correctly. sometimes
people just kind of push down trying to push their back
into the floor. a pelvic tilt is where you're rotating
the the pelvis or the hips back. so you're flattening out your back onto
whatever you're lying on. so the goal is almost imagine that that
belly button is going down into the bed or the floor.
so rotating back into that pelvic tilt. you're tilting it back,
but you're not using your feet. you're not not pushing with
your thigh muscles, you're rotating it all here
at the pelvis area. so once you rotate back,
kind of flatten out that back, try and hold it for about three to five
seconds, and sometimes with back pain this is slightly uncomfortable. so don't
push through any pain. a little bit of uncomfortable
is okay. so again holding it for about three to
five seconds. if you haven't done these before maybe just start
off with five to ten a couple times throughout the day,
and then you can work up your sets and your reps. so then after that you're
gonna go into a full bridge. so this time you're actually
bringing your bottom up. and this is really working the core because when
you're working your core, core exercises for
back pain, you don't just want to work your abs. you
want to work the front. you want to work the sides. and then you want to work the
back too. so these are going to help with your
glutes and your hamstrings, which helps with that back pain. so
strengthening them will get them better. so with the bridge,
this time you're you're rolling up. so you
are lifting your bottom off of the couch. so
nice and slow coming back down too. you really want to control this motion. so
it's not just up and down, up and down, and getting it
over with. but you really want to control that movement.
if you can't come up as high as me, that's okay. you can modify it and just
try and bring your bottom up. but if you can, eventually you want to
roll all the way up. so i'm really just
pushing my knees forward, activating those glutes, activating those
hamstrings, and rolling back down. so it's not just
coming up and down. it's kind of really going forward to activate those muscles,
and then nice and controlled back down. so same thing, if you haven't
done these before, you might want to just start off with five or ten.
you can do a couple sets at a time doing them a couple times throughout the day.
so then the next one is going to be what we call
a dead bug. and so i'm going to kind of show you the modified version.
you can make it a lot harder with a progressing it, and i have some videos
for that if you want to check it out. but with the with the dead bug, what
you're going to do is starting off with that pelvic tilt. so you want to really
get that that pelvis rotated back, that the
lower back into a neutral position, and try and keep that the whole time. so
that's the hardest part. the dead bug is easy
if you're not doing the pelvic tilt. so make sure you keep that pelvic tilt the
whole time. while you're holding that tilt, you're
going to bring one leg up just a little bit while you bring
your opposite arm back. so i'm coming up this way. you can bring
your leg higher but again make sure and keep that tilt.
and then as you come down you're going to switch sides.
you don't have to worry as much about your arms.
they don't have to go all the way back. again the thing you really want to think
about is the movement with that pelvic tilt. now if you again
haven't done these before, you might want to reset every time. but
the goal is to hold the tilt the whole time. but if you have to start
over each time, if you're losing that tilt, start back over.
reset and then bring it up again. so alternating sides is the goal. and
again if you feel like you're coming out of that tilt,
you're probably fatigued out or make sure that you're resetting everything.
so now you want to go into working the side of the core.
so side planks or i'm going to do modified side planks right now,
are really kind of the best ones to do to really get that core because you're
not doing a lot of big movements that might hurt your back more,
but you're activating those muscles. so when you're doing
side planks or modified side planks, you're going to go up onto your knees
instead of your feet. make sure the elbow and the shoulder are in
pretty much alignment. you don't want to be far out here and you don't want to be
way under because you don't want to end up hurting your shoulder trying to do
the plank. the legs and the knees are going to be together.
and so see i'm started back just a little bit, but when i come up i'm moving
my hips forward. so i can get into a straight line. so
when i come up, i want to be pretty much in a
straight line here. you want to come up as high as you can.
you might be down just a little bit, that's okay to start off with, but the
goal is to really get up high in alignment there. and then
you can start off with just 10 to 15 seconds.
maybe even 5 to 10 if you haven't done them before, but eventually you want to
work up to maybe 30 seconds. if you're feeling really good and you
can get to a minute, then you can go into that full plank there. but i
wouldn't try that full plank until you can really do
that modified side plank for um a while. so then the next one is going
to be a modified plank. so then you're going to come all the way
over. you're still going to be kind of on your
knees when you come up. so you same concept where you want those
elbows to be pretty much in alignment with the shoulders because you don't
want to end up really irritating your shoulders. so with
this one, when you come up on your knees, squeeze
your booty in. so see i'm arching just a little bit so i
might want to get myself out some like that, but when you're
coming up, don't try and come up like this. don't
try and sag down low, really come up, but squeeze the booty.
squeeze those glute muscles, and you're going to
feel that whole core activating when you're doing it.
so same kind of concept. work up to it if you feel like
you can come up into that full plank. again really trying to squeeze the booty.
so you're not arched up like that because then you're not getting
the full benefit of it. so then the last one is going to be
what we call bird dogs. i think there's a couple different names for it, but it's
kind of like it sounds. so with a bird dog, you're going to get
onto all fours. like if you were a doggy and
try and keep your back in a neutral position. so it's not
down into that saddle position, it's not up like a cat,
but you're kind of flattening it out and you want to keep your hips
level the whole time. sometimes when people kick out
they kind of lean over, but then again that's not really strengthening those
back, those core muscles. so really try and keep
everything in the same position. you're not shifting your weight to one side,
that's taking away from the exercise. so i'm going to kick out one leg
and then the opposite arm is going forward just like if you see a bird dog
pointing where the bird has landed. so kicking out
like this, trying to straighten it out as much as
possible, and then coming back in. but see i'm not shifting to that side.
i'm using my core to keep everything tight.
if i'm shifting, see let's see if i can show you,
if i'm shifting you know and leaning like that or turning my
hips, then that's just that's not work doing the right exercise. you might
actually make your back more sore. so if you
can't do the full bird dog, you can start off
with just bringing your arm out, or just kicking your leg out.
but make sure that you're keeping it almost like if you had a cup of water on
your back. you don't want to spill that cup of
water. so there you have it, those are my favorite core
exercises for back pain. if you'd like to help support my channel, make sure and
click on the link up there, and don't forget to subscribe by
clicking down there. and remember be safe, have fun, and i hope you feel
better soon.