Back pain is the most common symptom we see at Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine. Last week, we discussed the 3 common categories of low back pain that we often see:
- Pain that gets worse while sitting
- Pain that happens when getting up out of a chair, when walking, or bending and lifting
- Pain that occurs only when walking or running
Last week, we discussed 2 easy exercises to address the first category. Today we’re going to address the second category: pain that happens when getting up out of a chair, when walking, or bending and lifting.
Chair Squat
Chair Squats are a great way to do 2 things:
- Build up strength and endurance in your legs. This puts less stress on your low back when you move.
- Improve control of your low back and endurance of your low back muscles.
Hold the bottom position for 5 seconds with your butt just above the surface of the chair. Make sure your low back doesn’t round out as you move.
Start with 2 sets of 10 of these everyday, progressing to 3 sets of 10 as they get easier.
Bridges
Bridges are another great way to improve low back awareness and control. They can also help you regain strength and endurance in your low back muscles and glutes. Initially try to hold at the top for 10 seconds and do 2 sets of 10 reps. As they get easier, you can increase the hold times, trying to work up to 30 sec holds for 3 sets. 1 to 2 times a day is a good frequency for these.
Neither of the exercises above should make you hurt more. If they do, or if you’ve tried these and you’re still hurting, we can help you! At Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, we’re experts at treating low back pain and will develop a plan to help you beat it.
Call our office at 703-299-3111, or click here and a member of our team will schedule you an evaluation with one of our highly skilled physical therapists.
Helping you live your best life,
The Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Team
