Best Exercises For Rehabilitating Back Injuries

Of all sports related injuries, I personally find back injuries to be the most worrisome and the most debilitating. You never quite realise how important your back is until something happens to it. However, that being said, you can rehabilitate yourself back into form (no pun intended) by performing a few exercises which are known to strengthen the back muscles and really help rebuild the damage that would have been caused at the point of the injury. These exercises are generally easy to perform and use low resistance as a way to rebuild and strengthen any injured muscles.

1. Hyper-extension - The hyper-extension or the back extension is one of the 'go-to' back strengthening exercises. The emphasis is on the spinal erectors and the lower back and I have found it extremely effective in rehabilitating my back and also managing back pain. The strength of this exercise is its flexibility as you are able to use varying levels of resistance and also able to adjust the incline (you will need to perform it on the bench initially). It can be done on a swiss ball but the instability of the ball may cause injury once more). Most gyms have specialist incline benches designed for performing the hyper-extension.

They recognise the exercise's efficiency and efficacy when it comes to back rehabilitation. Since most back injuries occur in the lower back section, it is advisable to start the hyper-extension with a very gentle incline and no weights. You can then slowly increase your range of motion while making sure you do not create too much discomfort as that may indicate that further damage is being caused. As you get stronger and more confident you can add more weight, but you must always be conscious of any discomfort.

2. Superman - The 'superman' is another classic back rehabilitation exercise. It is essentially a static hold - you do not need to perform reps in quick succession but rather, you need to hold the position for as long as you can. The efficacy of the Superman is in the low resistance as you are essentially using your own body-weight. The main advantage of this is that you can easily control the amount of resistance should any discomfort occur. Also, you can always gradually work to increase the amount of time that you hold the position as your back gets stronger.

3. Good Morning - Only when you feel that you are well on the road to recovery will the Good Morning begin to give you some good results. This is because unlike the other two exercises, the good morning requires free weights which will cause significantly more strain to your lower back and if you haven't quite recovered, this could do more harm than good. The good morning is best performed with the barbell as it is much more stable and at this point stability is key. A simple jolt or a slip up could compromise your back and undo all the hard work you have done by causing further injury.

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