exercises / good ways to strengthen your (lower) back .. ?

BlackPowder

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Hey everyone

Ive been training MT for a good year now, but recently my lower back has been starting to hurt during training and especially sparring .. .. so i went to a doctor, and he said it wasnt something serious, but that id need to increase the capacity of my back so that it would keep up with the stress put on it during training .. he said that i should do this by strenghtening my lower back, meaning training my back muscles, so that they would better support my spine ..

Since i love training MT im planning to do that, so, any suggestions for good excercises to strengthen your back, to train your back muscles?

How should I train to improve my backs strength?

I have a set of dumbells on which i can put on and take of weight..

so yeah im grateful for any suggestion about how to train your (lower) back ..

thanks a lot!

cheers

Fabian
 
If you want pure dumbbell exercises, go with dumbbell rows, dumbbell deadlifts, dumbbell good mornings, dumbbell stiff leg deadlifts and goblet squats. Youd probably benefit most from doing a scheduled routine 2-3 times a week. Plus a lot of abdominal work will help stabalize your back as well.
 
I feel like this goes w/o saying, but how's your flexibility? I am a pretty staunch follower of Kelly Starret, one of his big things is back pain (especially when incorporated w/exercise) has more to do with hamstring flexibility and it's connectivity w/the other muscles in the leg, and how they all connect to the lower back.

I said all of that to say, maybe investing in a good foam roller or some pvc pipe (6" thick) might help out too.
 
I have found that deadlifting has improved the condition of my lower back.I had back problems for a couple of years and ever since doing deadlifts the problem has been absolved.
 
If you can get access to the equipment, squat and deadlift. Accessory stuff like glute/ham raises and reverse hypers would be good also.
 
Deadlifts for SURE. I never did any exercise for my lower back, and about 3 months ago I began incorporating deadlifts into my workout, to improve my grappling and to take precautions because my old man has lower back problems. Deadlifts are miracles man, I fuckin love them. I can actually start to feel and see muscle developing in my lower back, I never realized how weak and atrophied the human back truly is.
 
supermans are a good start to develop a base if your lower back is really weak
 
well i think my abdominal muscles are strong enough, we do a hundred sit ups every training session which is 3 - 4 times a week and i do lots of crunches and sit ups for myself, too..

.. i am also already doing supermans.. i have however never trained my back with weights, but i am quite sure that this would be a lot more effective and help strengthen my back a lot..

.. and no i dont have squatting and deadlifting equipment yet, but i will buy it, i always wanted to try deadlifting and now that i hear that it is really good for my back i will definitely get that stuff.

So yeah, to get my back as strong as possible, i am going to do squats, deadlifts, and hyperextension .. anything else or ist that all i need to do?



about the hamstring felxibility, well i am not sure but i think it is alright.. but anyways, whats would be a good strechting exercise to stretch your hamstring?
 
in addition to the deads, stiff leg deads, hypers, squats that everyone mentioned...

overhead squats and kettlebell swings, along with some core work like planks
 
Deadlifts, and there is no other lift that can give you as much bang for buck for your lower back.


On a scale of 1-10 in effectiveness for your lower back.

Supermans rank at about 1-2, and deadlift at about 20.

Squats are very high up there as well.


And that's all you need to do. If you squat 1-2x a week and deadlift 1x a week, + hyperextensions, your lower back will have a lot more than enough volume work.
 
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high rep pullthroughs with the entire stack and a rounded back. let the weight round your back as it pulls your torso between your legs. focus on locking these out the same way as a deadlift, with shoulders back and hips locked out. do these as explosively as possible

you can get some really excruciating back pumps from these

another great option are weighted hyperextensions, glute-ham raises, and reverse hypers
 
PCP and TrainingAdict, what if you don't have access to machines for hyperextensions/pullthroughs/glute ham raises etc? I guess you just stick with squats/deadlifts/good mornings?

I feel my lower back is a weak point and I'd love to do some of those exercises but I can't.
 
well i think my abdominal muscles are strong enough, we do a hundred sit ups every training session which is 3 - 4 times a week and i do lots of crunches and sit ups for myself, too..

.. i am also already doing supermans.. i have however never trained my back with weights, but i am quite sure that this would be a lot more effective and help strengthen my back a lot..

.. and no i dont have squatting and deadlifting equipment yet, but i will buy it, i always wanted to try deadlifting and now that i hear that it is really good for my back i will definitely get that stuff.

So yeah, to get my back as strong as possible, i am going to do squats, deadlifts, and hyperextension .. anything else or ist that all i need to do?



about the hamstring felxibility, well i am not sure but i think it is alright.. but anyways, whats would be a good strechting exercise to stretch your hamstring?

Doing situps is an awful way to work your core if you have lower-back issues.

If by "supermans" you are referring to the exercise where you lie on the floor and lift arms and legs (or combinations thereof) while hyper-extending your lower back, then that is also not going to help.


Start by doing deadlifts and romanian deadlifts or good mornings. As assistance you can implement other exercises people suggested, like reverse hypers, glute-ham raises, back extensions, pull throughs, etc. Thoroughly research exercise form before doing any of these.

I also totally agree with assessing/focusing on hamstring length/flexibility, as well as hip flexor length/flexibility.
 
PCP and TrainingAdict, what if you don't have access to machines for hyperextensions/pullthroughs/glute ham raises etc? I guess you just stick with squats/deadlifts/good mornings?

I feel my lower back is a weak point and I'd love to do some of those exercises but I can't.

Like 90% of gyms have a cable station which lets you do pullthroughs. I feel like these can really help reinforce solid hip drive for the deadlift lockout, and are also a fairly safe way to train with a rounded back.

Most gyms also have shit for hyperextensions.

Reverse hypers and GHR stations are a bit more rare but hardcore gyms will tend to have them.

If you are trying to train alone at home you are stuck with barbell movements, which isn't the best situation b/c it limits your exercise selection.

Good mornings are good... They can be done with a low bar for more weight or a high bar to put more torque on the lower back... I suggest doing them off pins. This will help with the middle of the squat where the lower back tends to round over from the huge weights. A strong lower back, hamstrings, glutes and abs are key to a big squat.

SLDL are also very good. A very good way to do them is with each rep starting from the floor. You can use more weight like this. Another technique is to stop each rep mid-shin. This gives you a stretch reflex, but it can be difficult to breathe.

Strict, heavy bent over rows that aren't deloaded are also very good as the bent-over position puts a lot of stress on the lower back.

Recently I have been playing around with short minibands with the deadlift... They really nail the lockout, which is one of the hardest parts in the conventional deadlift. You don't need a jump platform for them and they are like $4 bucks a pop. Better than rack pulls IMO because the weight actually comes off the floor like in a true deadlift.
 
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Rehab/Prehab Exercises:
Hyperextensions
Glute-Ham
Goodmornings for higher reps(good with bands, dbs, etc)

Strength Exercises:
Deadlifts variants (Dimel, Romanian, Stiff Legged, Extended ROM, etc)
Goodmornings(barbell for lower reps)

Power/Speed/Endurance:
Cleans
Snatches
Swings
Deadlifts
 
Thanks for the info PCP, I work out at home so I'm definitely limited in what I can do. When you say strict heavy bors, does that mean you wouldn't do them for high reps? I was doing them after deadlifts for 5 sets of 10.
 
Thanks for the info PCP, I work out at home so I'm definitely limited in what I can do. When you say strict heavy bors, does that mean you wouldn't do them for high reps? I was doing them after deadlifts for 5 sets of 10.

They are good for both high and low reps. I do them with 315 but I will go as low as 225 for higher reps and more solid technique. They are great because they build the entire back. I also will note that this is one of the only exercises I use straps on, because it forces you into using double overhand and also puts you in a tough position to hold the bar.
 
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