If you have a back injury or even a weak back, then you know how debilitating this can be. It can be hard enough to move throughout your day, much less to take on any form of true exercise. The reality is that while most of us tend to pay a lot of attention to strengthening our arms and legs, we don’t give enough time and attention to our backs in our workout regimen. Just as you would plan for strengthening your upper and lower body, you also want to incorporate back exercises that can help you add strength and help you to make a true transformation. If you give attention to the back, then it can help you get a great look and also ensure that you avoid injury moving forward.
Whether you realize it or not, the back is involved in so many things that we do. When you are working out your arms or even your chest, your back may be involved in a support role. You will also find that the back helps you to lift heavy items and just perform simple tasks, and yet we don’t give it the time and attention that it deserves. We need to nurture this part of the body and really try to strengthen it and take care of it, and there are some exercises that can help us to do this with ease. When you start to make the back a major focus in your workout routines, you will truly notice the difference and you will find that you are just stronger in general.
Understanding just how important back strength really is, you want to focus on the best back exercises for your spine, for your posture, and for your overall ability to move about. These are some simple but effective exercises that can help strengthen the spine, and ensure that you keep yourself strong and free of debilitating injuries that can stop you dead in your tracks. Try these out and then add weight and intensity as you get stronger.
Reverse Fly: You want to bend over slightly at the waist, but keep your back flat. Don’t let it get to the point of rounding, or this is when you could get injured. Holding the weights out to the sides, you want to slowly move them back in just in front of the chest. You are helping to strengthen the back, the spine, and you are also adding a strength element to the upper body too since they need to assist. Move slowly through the reverse fly and then add weight as you get stronger and are better able to handle this movement moving forward.
Bent Over Row: Form is everything when it comes to back exercises and this is a perfect example of that. You want to bend over, but again from the waist and keep the back flat. You don’t want to lose that position and end up with a rounded back, for that is when you are most likely to get hurt. You want to start with weights in hands and with your arms at your side and then move into a big rowing motion, squeezing the shoulder blades at the top. This will help to add strength to the entire back and that includes the spine. Just take it slowly since this gets the whole back into the act, which is good but requires perseverance.
Cobra: You start by lying on your stomach, and then you slowly move up to supporting yourself using just your hands. You lift your chest off the ground, and then hold the position while you stretch the back. You can perform the same movement while standing bent over with weights, and the key is to emphasize the stretch to the back as you hold this pose with the chest up. It will go deep into the muscle tissue, and help you to really add strength to the entire back.
Bridge: You probably think of this as a movement to help add strength to the legs, but it’s actually one of the best back exercises that is gentle but effective. Start by lying on the ground with feet on the ground, and then lift your glutes and thighs off the ground. You will only be supporting the lower half using your feet, and this means that you help to strengthen the back as you hold this pose and continue to move through it. You will get to a point where you can add time to this or even hold weights during a bridge too, but it all equals great power to the back overall.
