Category Archives: ball exercises in work

Back strengthening exercises – a few words on intensity

Back strengthening exercises should aim to improve muscle tone if they aim to help people with back problems and back pain.

A lot of people feel, they only get a good workout, when “it hurts”. Short spurts of maximum intensity are perceived as more effective than medium intensity exercises over a longer period of time. Whether or not this is really the case is currently a source of hot debate in the science and research world. Some research suggests, the time a muscle is engaged has a better training effect than the actual strain intensity. My words of wisdom here are based on my experience working with people in my program and focusing on core and back strengthening exercises. There is no problem pushing the intensity level provided proper technique is maintained. So, while you can up the intensity level by using weights doing core and back strengthening exercises, at no point should the core stability or joint position be compromised. And you should spend time in the position itself.

You need a bit of both – medium to high intensity exercises which are performed slowly and in a controlled manner. The aim of any exercise program should be to improve your health and fitness. I encourage all my course participants to evaluate any back strengthening exercise program or other kind of activity themselves. Are the exercises controlled and are the movements done in a manner without compromising the joints or muscle capabilities? See our guidelines for more information.

Although weights can be a useful tool when exercising, they are not necessary for an exercise to be effective. By altering the body position and increasing the leverage, any of the back strengthening exercises we do, can be made sufficiently difficult, so that you get a training effect. However, when properly used, weights can make a back strengthening exercises program that little bit more varied and interesting with higher levels of intensity attained that little bit quicker.

The ball is a great tool when doing a back strengthening exercises program. There is an entire set of stability ball exercises which will strengthen your core and back. We also use a number of small weights and do a lot of resistance training using a Thera-Band.

Back strengthening exercises – squats – active sitting program part VIII

Back strengthening exercises are easily done while in work. Just taking a few minutes throughout your working day can make a huge difference in your well being. Sitting on a ball is one of the easiest ways to keep your back active and healthy. The ball is an important component of our active sitting program.

The following exercise is one of the most effective back strengthening exercises. It will exercise your legs, stomach and back all at the same time.

Keep you stomach muscles tight by pulling your stomach in throughout the exercise. Make sure you keep on breathing.

Squat

1. Have your knees at least shoulder width apart, place your ankles directly beneath your knees on the floor.

2. Place your hands on the edge of the table and lift your buttocks off the ball, keeping the knees over the ankles Your stomach muscles should be tight while you keep breathing. Ensure you are not leaning on the table top.

3. Make sure the ball hasn’t rolled away before you sit back down. If you find the ball rolls away you might want to use a ball base.

• Repeat 3 to 5 times

Variation for strength:
1. As before have your knees over your ankles and bring your upper body forward.
2. Place your hands on the outside of the ball next to your hips.
3. Bring your upper body forward until you are able to lift your buttocks off the top of the ball. Check your knees are still above your ankles. Hold for 5 to 10 seconds.
• Repeat 3 to 5 times

Essential stretches for lower back pain – hamstring stretches – active sitting part VII

Stretches for lower back pain include hamstring stretches.

Stretches for lower back pain are just as important for a healthy back as stomach and back strengthening exercises. Many people don’t realise how important leg strength, flexibility and mobility are for the back. In order to be able to move in a back friendly way, we need to keep the legs strong and flexible. Prolonged sitting often results in shortened hamstrings. As a result the muscles balance that keeps the back healthy and upright gets disturbed. This can result in back pain. Stretches for lower back pain include leg stretches such as the hamstring stretch. Stretches for lower back pain also include the hip flexor stretch we introduced in the last post. As with hip flexor stretches we encourage you to stretch the hamstrings on a regular basis, too.

Hamstring Stretch

1. Start by sitting on the exercise ball. Straighten out one leg in front of you.

2. Hold onto the table.
3. Keeping the back straight, bring the chest towards the leg, lean forward with the upper body. You should feel a stretch in the hamstring of the straight leg. Hold this position for 10 seconds.
• Repeat stretch 3 times on each leg

Variation for Calf Muscles:
1. Repeat the previous exercise, but when you lean forwards towards the straight leg, pull the toes towards the shin. Feel how the stretch moves into the calf muscles.
• Repeat stretch 3 times on each leg

The following exercise will exercise your legs, stomach and back at the same time. Keep you stomach muscles tight throughout the exercise.

Squat
1. Have your knees at least shoulder width apart, place your ankles directly beneath your knees on the floor.
2. Place your hands on the edge of the table and lift your bottom of the ball, keeping the knees over the ankles. • Repeat 3 to 5 times

Variation for strength:
1. As before have your knees over your ankles and bring your upper body forward.
2. Place your hands on the outside of the ball next to your hips.
3. Bring your upper body forward until you are able to lift your bottom off the top of the ball. Check your knees are still above your ankles. Hold for 5 to 10 seconds.
• Repeat 3 to 5 times

Essential stretches for lower back pain – hip flexor stretch – active sitting part VI

The hip flexor stretch is one of the essential stretches for lower back pain.

In the pervious posts we mostly looked at stretches and back strengthening exercises in particular for the up back, neck and shoulders. Today you will be introduced to the hip flexor stretch an essential in the stretches for lower back pain. Hip flexors are those muscles that flex (= shorten the distance between two body parts) the legs towards the hips, they bend the leg towards the upper body. This movement happens in the hip joints. Hip flexors are very strong muscles because we use them all the time. Strong muscles tend to be short. Problem with the hip flexors can arise when they become too short. Then they can exasperate many back problems because they pull the pelvis forward and arch the lower back. We will examine this in detail in a later post. When you sit in work all day, your hip flexor is kept short. It is a good idea to do a hip flexor stretch at least once a day. Of all the exercises when engaging in back strengthening exercises in particular, this stretch is extremely valuable. It is one of the most valuable stretches for lower back pain. It makes any back strengthening exercises much more effective. It can greatly help to alleviate lower back pain.

Hip flexor stretch:

1. Stand up and hold on to the table top.

2. Clench your gluteus muscles and pull you stomach in while maintaining your breathing.

2. Bend both knees slightly.
3. Standing on one leg lift the other ankle onto the ball, keeping the knees together.
4. Keeping the standing leg slightly bent, straighten out the other leg over the ball and backwards. You should feel a stretch in the groin and thigh. Hold this position for 20-30 seconds.
• Repeat stretch on both sides

Back strengthening exercises, stomach exercises and spinal mobility exercises – active sitting program part V

In the previous posts you learned about simple stretching, mobility and back strengthening exercises. You were introduced to an important concept when engaging in back strengthening exercises. It is important to include stomach exercises into your workout to help regain a good muscle balance. Please be sure to review the general guidelines about spinal movement before continuing with the next set of exercises.

Pelvic Mobility sideways:

Start by sitting on the ball resting your hands on the table in front of you.

1. Keep the shoulders still and rest the wrists on the table while rolling the ball sideways.
2. Lift one cheek of your buttocks of the ball while rolling sideways.
3. Roll the ball over to the other side.
• Repeat 10 times

Pelvic lifts sideways:

1. As above roll the ball away to one side.
2. When lifting the pelvis up sideways, hold this position for about 5 to 10 seconds. This exercise will strengthen the muscles of you hips and lower back. It’s one of the more subtle yet effective and important back strengthening exercises.
3. Repeat the exercise on the other side. • Repeat 3 to 5 times on both sides

Variation for strength:

1. Start as above, lifting one side of the pelvis of the ball.
2. Let go of the table and reach with the arm/hand towards the ground on the side you are lifting the pelvis. Hold for 5 to 10 seconds and repeat on the other side.

Neck stretches variation:

1. Start as above, lifting one side of the pelvis of the ball.
2. Let go of the table and reach with the arm/hand towards the ground on the side you are lifting the pelvis. While keeping your head facing forward drop you ear towards your should. Hold the stretch for about 15 seconds and repeat on the other side.

Flying Form

back strengthening exercises and more