by Paul Meripol
I originally came to Pilates hoping for a solution for
chronic low back pain. And it has helped
immensely. Yet for a long time, despite
good instruction, some exercises – especially certain back extension movements
– made the pain worse and not better. The
problem was not the exercises, it was how I was doing them.
The key to safe and successful back extension, especially
for sufferers of lower back pain, is in the abdominals! Proper abdominal engagement while performing
back extension protects the low back, and helps put the work where we want it -
in the mid back. Once I learned this
lesson, I was able to perform virtually any back extension exercise safely.
Here’s a simple back extension exercise example with
principles that can be applied to any others you perform:
1. Lie on your
stomach on a mat or carpet. Your nose is
resting lightly on the mat, the back of your neck is long, and your arms are
along your sides with your palms against your hips and your fingers reaching
down towards your knees.
2. Stretch your legs
away from you. I like to lightly engage
my glutes and hamstrings as I do this.
3. Here’s the key to the exercise: along
with that engagement of your glutes and hamstrings, lift your belly button up
off the floor toward your spine. By
doing this you engage your deep abdominals.
You should feel your pubic bone pressing into the floor.
4. Now keep that
tummy pulled up tight as you lift your head and chest off the mat. Don’t overextend your neck. Keep looking down at the floor. Think of a turtle reaching its head and neck
out of its shell. Your goal here is to
strive for length from top of head to toes.
Don’t worry about how high you lift.
That is definitely secondary. You
want to feel your back is hinging in the middle, behind the ribs. If you feel you are hinging in the low back,
or you feel any discomfort in the low back then come back down and recommit to your
abdominal engagement before you try it again.
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