Ok… I havent started training yet as my bench /weights dont show up till next week…
but…
Yesterday i done some crunches and i had to stop before i even started getting any “burning” in my abs because my lower back had quite alot of pain in it.
Im worried when i start my full work out which consists of deadlifts, squats, chin ups, dumbell presses, barbell rollouts and a few others that i will not be able to do these exercises because i will get back pain?..
Any tips on exercises i could do to strnegthen my back, i heard yoga and stuff like that helps? im very very very un-flexible.
yoga helps with flexiblity and the overall mind and body connection. It is good for flexiblity, but you need to do dynamic stretching everyday with some static post exercise to get flexible faster.
If you haven’t started already, focus on your hip flexors, quads, and hamstrings for stretching. Every other group should be worked as well, and you can read plenty of articles on here about stretching.
Oh, and read the article on here “feel better for 10 bucks.” It is essential if you want to recover quicker and prevent injuries.
Planks are good core exercise. What is your background experience? Pain for one is muscle soreness for another. I’m not implying that you’re a wimp. Whatever workout you’re preparing to do, you might want to take a couple of weeks and do body weight only exercises. If you have never lifted weights, or are just coming back off a long layoff, your body will need to adapt to the stress. The exercises you have listed are all wonderful. Deadlifts and squats will definitely strengthen the lower back.
You were doing crunches and got a pain in your lower back?
If you’re really, REALLY out of shape, your lower back could be weak, and maintaining the isometric contraction to allow your abs to trunk flexion (crunches) could make them sore/hurt.
If this is the case, you need to
a) develop mobility in your hips and
b) develop strength in your lower back.
Try to do bodyweight squats, pushups and planks. These should strengthen the musculature you’ll need to support your lifting.
It’s worth pointing out though, that really REALLY out of shape means that you haven’t exercised in the last five years and you work 40-60 hour weeks sitting at a desk.
Yoga may help, and if you decide to go that route, I’d advise against any form that involves a stretch of your lower back. Many lower back problems are the result of a lack of hip-mobility, and so doing poses that open the hips (the warrior poses, goddess pose, crescent pose) are a good idea. Doing poses that stretch the back (cobra pose, back-bridges) develop flexibility at the expense of stability/strength. You want strength in your lower back, so don’t work on these too much.