Time spent working out is supposed to be great for your body. Unfortunately, there’s a good chance that you may be engaging in exercises that will take a toll on your back, unless you’re using the correct form. At first you might not notice a problem. After a while, you may just seem sore. However, given a long enough period of time, these exercises could greatly affect your quality of health. Let’s take a look at these workouts and how to do them correctly.
Straight-Leg Deadlight
Without a doubt, the deadlift is one of the most beneficial exercises you can do. It’s actually really great for your spine, core and entire postural chain. Of course, it works about every muscle group too.
If you’re doing the straight-leg deadlift, though, you’re most likely rounding your back, which is terrible for it. Instead, bend your knees and let your hips do the majority of the lift. Keep your core tight—getting a full belly of breath right before the lift helps here—and your spine completely straight.
The Bent over Row
Another exercise that can be great for your entire body, especially your back, is the bent over row. Again, though, if you’re not using your hips to hold the body steady and a strong core to reinforce the stance, your back is getting unduly taxed during this workout.
To hold the correct form, keep your head up, your back in a neutral position and your butt down. Look forward during the entire workout. Looking down makes it too easy for your back to round.
Crunches
Crunches are many people’s go-to workouts for isolating their abdomen. The truth, though, is that there’s no right way to do them. Crunches are always bad for you. They strain your back throughout the movement and clutching your hands behind your head can also have detrimental effects. To make matters worse, after doing dozens or hundreds of reps, you’ll definitely feel like a six-pack is right around the corner. Unfortunately, only about 20% of your movement actually affected your abs in a positive way.
Ditch crunches and move to planks. As long as you use good posture, you can also do heavy lifts like the bench press and squat, which will light up your abs, too.
Behind-the-Neck Lat Pulldowns
Pulling down the lat bar behind your neck will definitely give your upper back a workout. The problem is that the cost of this workout is that it messes up your shoulders. Most people don’t have the shoulder flexibility to do this workout without hurting a rotator cuff at the very least. For those lacking the flexibility, it also pulls the spine out of alignment.
A better way to do this workout is bringing the bar down in front of your chest. You’ll hit the same muscles, minus the risk.
Working out is an important part of staying in shape and can actually be great for your back. Just be sure you do the above workouts correctly so you don’t get hurt. If you do suffer an injury, call Green Valley Chiropractor at 702-597-1181.