Do you have pain in your lower back? Does it come and go all the time? Does it stop you from doing all the things you love? Ever wonder if you are doing the right thing for it?
Then make sure you read this incredibly important article as I’m going to tell you my 3 most hated back pain exercises that do nothing in the long term than waste your time.
Back pain is a massive issue. It’s the most common type of pain. Over 80% of people are going to have back pain at one stage of their lives. And of those people over 80% of them will continue to get relapses again and again.
Back pain ultimately stops you from doing the things you love but it can also greatly affect your income by preventing you from working the roles you want to do.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
Now let’s get into it.
These 3 exercises make me so furious when I see them. Don’t get me wrong, they do have their place but their place is for the first few days after hurting your back and they will NEVER prevent you from having another relapse no matter how religiously you do them.
My big gripe with these exercises is that they will not make your back stronger to prevent further injuries, they will not stop any of the original contributing factors and they are so boring that most people give up on them quickly.
Unfortunately if you go to Dr Google these are the most common exercises out there given out by physios, chiros, massage therapists and GPs alike.
At Elite Physiotherapy we aren’t about delivering average outcomes. We are all for ELITE outcomes and that’s why these exercises are banned unless under very specific circumstances – and even then patients are only allowed to do them for a few days.
Bad back exercise number 1:
Knee rocking
So we’ve all seen this one. Lying on your back, knees bent up so your feet are on the floor then gently rocking your knees side to side.
For an acute disc injury where you are stuck bent over and can’t stand up straight, this can be a nice exercise for a few days but it needs to quickly be changed to address the really contributing issues of a stiff upper back, weakness around the pelvis and a sway back posture.
Bad back exercise number 2:
Knees to chest
So again, a super basic exercise where the patient brings their knees to their chest to stretch out their lower back.
The problem with this one is that it is just a bandaid stretch. It doesn’t address the key issue that the patient has a sway back posture and is constantly jamming up their facet joints. A better alternative to this to provide the lasting results is to work on core and glutes strength for starters to help the patient achieve a better posture and stop the need for the stretch in the first place.
Bad back exercise number 3:
Piriformis stretch
This one always makes you feel like a bit of a contortionist and you can do it either lying down or sitting up. But in essence it’s stretching a little muscle that sits in your bottom.
The problem is that until you address the reason why this muscle keeps getting tight you will forever be stretching it out for the rest of your life.
It has always been my approach here at Elite Physiotherapy to make our patients strong to get lasting relief and not rely on a passive stretch that just gives bandaid relief.
The big thing is… YOU DON’T NEED TO BE ANOTHER NEGATIVE STATISTIC OF LIVING WITH BACK PAIN. You just need to get the right advice and not be another victim of the generic google handout.
If you’d like to get these results too then click HERE to book online or give us a call on (07) 4999 9773 so we can get you back to doing what you want to do and what you love.