Most of our daily activities force us to have a bad posture. The fact of being seated and often stooped for several hours a day, in the long run, weakens our lower back.

The chair is part of the problem: to have a straight back, the hip joint must be flexed at a 90º angle and this position is not natural. To compensate and reach a more open flex, the body tends to slip in the chair and hunch our back to reach the desk or computer.

The muscles of the back suffer a lot in this position because they stretch too much and that weakens them. But in addition, the buttocks, which do nothing during all those hours, atrophy. And without a strong glute, the rest of the structure collapses. That’s when the dreadful pains in the lower back appear.

Fortunately, there are some exercises that can be done to strengthen the back and relieve discomfort. Next, we will see three exercises for the lumbar area with an elevation of legs and arms.

Exercises for the lower back

To relieve pain, tension, stiffness and back pain, it is necessary to strengthen the muscles of the abdominals, lower back, and legs. This will help prevent a new back injury. There are very simple exercises that can be done at home and without the help of any accessory, machinery, etc.

Specific strengthening exercises for the lumbar, abdominal and leg area should be performed three times a week to feel its benefits. It is important to make them in the correct posture and on a regular basis to feel relief from discomfort.

Note: to perform these exercises it is very important to first consult a specialist to have an individualized evaluation.

Alternate leg and arm lifting exercises

This exercise consists of alternately raising the arm and the leg. To begin with, we must place ourselves on our knees with our hands resting on the floor at shoulder height and try to make the back as straight as possible. Next, we raise one leg and the opposite arm to the height of the trunk.

For example, if we raise the right leg we raise simultaneously the left arm, keeping the balance. We must stretch the leg and the arm as much as possible. We keep this position for five seconds and then repeat the same exercise with the opposite side. We can do three sets of 15 repetitions.

If we have difficulties in maintaining balance, we can also do this exercise in parts. First, we will raise one arm to the horizontal, then the leg on the same side and then repeat the exercise with the other side.

Extension exercise for the lower back

This exercise will help us stretch the lower back, relieving discomfort and pain and inflammation. People suffering from back pain can perform it three times a week on a regular basis, although they do not present discomfort at that time. This will be a good way to prevent future crises.

To do the lumbar extension, we should lie on the floor face down. The arms should be stretched over the head and the legs stretched back, with the feet slightly apart. The palms of the hands should be supported on the floor.

Next, we must contract the buttocks and the lower back. With the force of the contraction, we must raise the legs and the upper part of the body simultaneously. We will maintain this elevated position for two seconds and return to the starting position. This exercise can be done in three sets of 15 repetitions.

The cat and the camel

This is one of the most recommended exercises by specialists to relieve lower back pain. It is an exercise of the amplitude of the dorsal-lumbar joints.

To do this exercise we must place ourselves on our knees with our hands resting on the floor and our back straight. The idea is to go from maximum flexion to the extension of the lower back. To do this, we must arch the backup, flexing the neck down (camel).

The next thing will be to arch your back down by flexing your neck up (cat). We will maintain each position for five seconds and we will do three sets of fifteen repetitions each.

With these simple routines that we can perform at home, the lower back of our body will clearly benefit. And with that, our health in general.