While resistance and strength training is an excellent way to exercise, keeping you fit, strong and healthy as you get older, it’s important that you maintain proper form at all times or you can quickly injure yourself, particularly in places like your lower back and knees.
Lower back pain is one of the most reported complaints and something that we see a lot here at Clear Physio – and, where strength training is concerned, the main reason for this kind of pain is poor form while lifting.
It’s vital that you maintain a neutral spine position when lifting, as you put a significant amount of strain on your spine, muscles and ligaments as you train. If you’re progressively increasing the load, your posture will suffer if the weights are too heavy and this can mean you end up using the wrong parts of your body to complete the movements.
To ensure that you protect your back while you lift, make sure you do a dynamic warm up before you exercise to reduce the risk of injury.
Working on your core can also protect your back so focus on this if you know that it’s one of your weaker areas. It’s very common for people to forget about their core and only work their back muscles in pursuit of a stronger back, but this is a big mistake and one that could cost you dearly.
When you do start working on your back, make sure that you keep your spine in neutral at all times, keeping your back straight when adding weight on. Don’t let your shoulders come too far forward and keep your core and leg muscles engaged.
Whatever you do, avoid lifting anything with a curved spine, as you’ll be putting unnecessary stress and strain on your muscles, joints and ligaments – which will only ever result in injury.
