Low Back Pain - 3 Simple Exercises You Can Do at Home For Lasting Relief

It is estimated that around eighty percent of our population will suffer from a back pain episode at least once in their life. Thankfully the majority of those episodes will only be temporary but when the pain continues after a day or two it is important to do something about it before it becomes a lasting problem. Naturally you should consult a medical professional to assess any damage that may have been done, but if the majority of your pain is found to be muscle or ligament related there are a couple of exercises that I myself found very useful for my lower back pain.

Working as a motor mechanic for almost ten years a sore lower back became a normal occurrence after a hard day's work and it wasn't until I had done some pretty major damage before the pain stopped me in my tracks. I still use these exercises today and even though I have other back issues that are yet to be dealt with, I do find a good amount of relief from my daily exercise routine.

The first exercise is simply swinging your arms from side to side in a loose, relaxed fashion. This serves as a good warm-up for your back and shoulder muscles and helps to promote circulation through the muscles. Stand with your feet at shoulders width apart and swing your arms loosely from side to side by rotating your upper body. Although this exercise sounds simple, don't under estimate it, if you over do it you will certainly know about it!

The next exercise centers around strengthening the glutes and hamstrings. Strengthening the muscles in and around your lower back increases your chances of being pain free as the muscles are more able to do their job. The idea with this one is to lie face down on an exercise mat or mattress with your arms beside your head and do straight lifts of your legs, one at a time. Lift each leg around twenty-five centimeters high off the bed and hold for ten seconds before carrying on to the other leg. Be sure to only use the hamstring and glute muscles to lift your leg into this position.

The third exercise that I would like to share with you is the wall sit or wall squat. Stand with your back against a wall, your feet about a foot away from the wall and while keeping the lower half of your legs perpendicular to the floor you slowly lower your body down to a level where you can feel your upper leg muscles and lower back muscles working to keep you in that position. The recommended time that you spend in this position is twenty minutes so don't go down too far to begin with. You may also find that reading a book or watching television is a good distraction while doing this exercise.

When the twenty minutes is up, straighten yourself up and walk around a little and you'll be sure to feel where the muscles have been working. The beauty of this exercise is that as you get used to it you can simply slide further down the wall to keep the pressure on your muscles at all times.