Only 20 percent of the adult population has been able to escape the horrors of back pain.
How are they able to do it?
Do they have some kind of human super power or super DNA that allows them to live their life pain-free without waking up stiff and sore?
No.
They are just like you and me, but the main difference is that they have figured out what the worst back exercises for back pain are and simply avoided them or modified them.
In this article, I’m going to hopefully enlighten you and share the worst back exercises for back pain and equip you with better alternatives.
Let’s begin.
Worst Back Exercises for Back Pain #1: High Aerobic Exercises
Strenuous aerobic exercises like jogging, running and even jumping on a trampoline can make your lower back feel worse.
Instead…
Try a low-impact alternative such as walking, swimming, and biking. Start with short sessions and build up over time.
In fact, a 2012 study found that walking just 20 to 40 minutes twice weekly for six weeks helped ease low back pain.
If swimming is your thing, try to avoid any strokes that twist your body. Instead of doing the butterfly and freestyle which require more trunk rotation, try the backstroke and breaststroke.
Worst Back Exercises for Back Pain #2: Toe Touch Hamstring Stretch
Toe Touches can put greater stress on the disks and ligaments in your spine. They can also overstretch lower back muscles and hamstrings.
Instead…
Try doing a lying down or standing hamstring stretch.
Worst Back Exercises for Back Pain #3: Sit-Ups and Crunches
When most people do sit-ups, they end up engaging their hip flexors and making them tighter instead of working their core muscles. Sit Ups also can put unnecessary pressure on your vertebral discs.
Instead…
Try planks, bird dogs and curl ups.
Worst Back Exercises for Back Pain #4: Double Leg Lifts
Double leg lifts can put too much pressure on the core muscles and stress the spine.
Instead…
Try doing bent knee hundreds.
Worst Back Exercises for Back Pain #5: Straight Leg Deadlift
If you allow your spine to round out during the exercise, your lower back will wind up doing all the work.
Instead…
Perform this move properly, focus on keeping the core tight and your spine in a straight, neutral position. When bringing the weight up past the knees, use your hips to pull up, not your back.
Worst Back Exercises for Back Pain #6: Bent Over Rows
The major pitfall in this exercise is forcing your back and not your hips to do all the work.
Instead…
Try maintaining better form!
Keep your back in a neutral position, with your head up and butt down. When lifting, keep eyes forward; looking down will force your back to round. Concentrate on pulling elbows back into the body to keep the focus on your back.
Worst Back Exercises for Back Pain #7: Back Squats
When done with poor form, it’s an easy way to wind up with more pain than gain after a gym session. The most common mistake is rounding your back when doing a back squat.
Instead…
Keep your back straight and do not stick your chest out. This causes tension to build up in your lower back.
Worst Back Exercises for Back Pain #8: Heavy Overhead Lifts
If you allow the low-back to arch, that puts too much compression on the vertebrae of your spine
If you have a pronounced back arch try these two training tweaks:
1. Strengthen your core with plank variations because if your abs aren’t strong, they won’t be able to keep the pelvis in a neutral position through contraction, and the pelvis will slip into an unhealthy forward tilt.
2. Release your hip flexors by foam-rolling and stretching since they may become tight and cause a forward pelvic tilt.
Worst Back Exercises for Back Pain #9: Incline Leg Press
Leg lifts are sometimes suggested as an ab workout to “strengthen the core” and toned the abs.
Leg press machines have you angled back—with your legs above your head—this puts your back into an awkward, flexed position and could increase your chances of a back injury.
This exercise is NOT worth the risk.
Instead…
Do Free standing squats and lunges.
Here’s Why: In a Mayo Clinic study, squats were found to put less stress on the joints and better strengthen the quads. The researchers determined that “closed-chain kinetic exercises,” in which the foot is fixed on the ground and the joints all move together, were safer than “open-chain” ones in which the foot hangs free and the foot, knee, and hip joints all move independently.
So there you have it, the top 9 worst back exercises for low back pain sufferers.
Discover ALL The Exercises That Healed My Back Pain
In my new book, The Essential Lower Back Pain Exercise Guide, you will learn all the exercises I performed every day to heal my back after I injured it one hot summer day installing a 60-pound air conditioner.
If you can make time to do a daily 15- to 30-minute back pain relief exercise routine, you’ll soon be on your way to feeling good again.
It’s essential to feel your best to make the most of every day. Learn more here!
Recommended Reading:
5 Essential Core Strengthening Exercises for Lower Back Pain Sufferers
