Common reasons to why we suffer from back pain are trauma, poor posture, poor lifting biomechanics, prolonged positions that pushes our body to its limits such as sitting 8 hours a day at work.
Two types of injury that we clinically treat are acute and chronic injuries. Acute means a sudden injury that usually happened due to trauma such as falling and hurting your back. Chronic injury means overuse injury that develops over time. You may feel some pain, that suddenly disappears. Couple days or weeks later the same pain may appear with more exaggerated symptoms.
In both cases full recovery can only be achieved by detecting all hindering factors and removing them. So lets look at what has been over working, and what has not been working that is creating all your symptoms.
Latest research suggests that people who suffer from chronic low back pain, are more likely to have weak External Obliquues and Gluteal muscles, tight hamstrings, and over active multifidus and lumbar spine erector spinae muscles.
A very strong core, will ensure your spine is supported and stabilized during movement. Gluteals are the neighboring muscles to our back and their function is to perform majority of the work while our core is stabilizing our spine. When your core and gluteals are weak, then you have no choice but to compensate which creates pain and symptoms.
The best exercises to tackle this problem
Hamstring stretches : can be performed seated, standing or lying down. Position does not matter as much as the “hold” time. Ensure you are holding for 30-60 seconds to allow the muscle relax. Perform more than once.
Low back stretches: Can be done seated or supine. Ensure you are holding for 30-60 seconds to allow the muscle relax. Perform more than once.
Core activation exercises: Activating your deep core is the key here. Having a six pack does not really justify your core stability since deep core stabilizers such as your pelvic floor muscles, transversus abdominus may still be weakened underneath.
“Put webspace of each hand over your iliac crests and make your trunk wider.”
or
“Imagine you are wearing a pair of tight pants, try to fit your shirt inside your pants.”
these two cues will help you with activating with deep stabilizers. Ensure you count out loud to prevent holding in your breath. Your activation progression should be lying down to sitting up to standing. Once your deep core is strong then you can start with your ab work outs.
Gluteal strengthening: Our favorite exercises when it comes to gluteal strengthening are clamshells, side steps, squats, donkey kicks. There are also many machines you can use in the gym for strengthening purposes.
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http://www.lower-back-pain-answers.com/images/lowbackpain-spine.jpg
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