CORE AND BACK STRETCHES
How do you feel when you have to spend most of your day dealing with an uncomfortable niggling back pain and trying to adjust your back almost now and then? Awful right? You’ve probably tried different medications to help you move around easier but can boast of no results.
Well, your uncomfortable back might just be comfortable on your body because you haven’t tried core and back stretches yet. These stretches help align your spine and build your core muscle, relieving your back pain. In addition, you will gain full-body functional movement and a near-perfect body shape by performing core and back stretches.
WHAT ARE CORE STRETCHES?
Before diving into what core stretches are, it is essential to discuss the core and its importance to the body.
What is the Core?
In physiological terms, the core is referred to as the torso. It refers to the lower-body region or the body’s abdominal region, comprising five areas: the hips, abdominals, lower back, mid-back, and upper back.
The core is an integral part of the human body. It is responsible for providing a medium for both arms and legs to function properly. The core is the center of gravity in the body, carrying both the arms and legs to provide functional movement.
Back to core stretches
Now that you know the core, you can visualize why you feel pains in your lower back, hips, upper back, abdominals, and mid-back after engaging in core stretches.
Proper core care through stretches helps promote proper posture and gait during motion. Core exercises range from minimal-stress workouts that involve little or no movement to workouts with extensive movements.
Core exercises are divided into stability-focused exercises like plank and movement-focused core exercises like ball crunch. Whichever you try, you are definitely going to get great results, but this also depends on your consistency.
BENEFITS OF CORE STRETCHES
Constant exposure to stress from daily activities results in muscle tightening, leading to spasms and pain and increasing the risk of muscle injuries. However, core stretches help you ease the stress off the muscles, loosen them up, and reduce the tendency for them to cramp up and injure.
Core stretches help to train the muscles in your hips, abdomen and lower back. This eases the stress when performing other activities since they typically depend on any one of these muscles. By strengthening the area responsible for arm and leg motion, your balance improves, your posture becomes better, and you gain stability when performing mundane or acrobatic tasks.
Other benefits of core stretches include:
- Helps to tone your abs
Abs as in abdominal muscles. No one wants a shape that makes them hate themselves or reduces their self-esteem. Regardless of gender, everyone desires a built, bodied and gallant shape. Stretches for your core helps to strengthen and better tone your abdominal muscle, which helps deliver this desirable shape.
- Helps you do physical activities easily
Core stretches benefit the abdomen beyond strength. Stretches also help burn abdominal fats, helping to keep your body in excellent shape. As a result, it becomes easier for you to play ball, bend down to wash or scrub, and stretch to grab your clothes from the wardrobe.
- Core stretches help you to reach your fitness goals
What are your fitness goals? Do you wish to reduce belly fat, strengthen your abs or just improve your posture?
Whatever your fitness goal, core stretches help you achieve them easily.
As an athlete, core stretches help you build muscles. They also help you gain endurance and build strength as you do them more often. In addition, core stretches help make other workouts easy to perform since these workouts typically involve the core.
- Core stretches help to increase flexibility and reduce back pain
Training your core muscles helps in your motion and flexibility; it makes it easier for you to move your body around while maintaining stability. According to Cleveland clinic, performing stretches based on movement allows your abdominal muscles to warm up and prepare for the activity ahead.
Beyond flexibility, core stretches help reduce back pain.
In the past, back pain was mostly found among older people, but now, it is all too common among the young due to daily life stresses. Strengthening your core muscles helps to protect your back from injury and provides better support for it.
Best Stretches for the Core and Back
Different stretches for your core can help strengthen your lower back, mid-back, hips, abdominals, and upper back. Some of the most effective stretches are discussed here
Abs Stretches
You can do different types of ab stretches at your convenience. Common ab stretches include:
- Cobra pose abdominal stretch
Cobra pose abs stretch opens up your hips and gives your abdominal muscle a subtle stretch.
How to do it:
- Lay on an exercise mat face down, with your hips flat on the ground. Allow your upper body to go upward by pushing down with your arms while looking straight. You can do this for 20-30 seconds and repeat.
- Cat-cow stretch
Cat-cow stretch engages both the abs and other parts of the core muscle. This stretch improves the flexibility of the abdominal muscle and is highly beneficial in back pain.
How to do it:
- Lay your hands and knees down and dip your head downward so that your back is arched. Extend your neck upwards, and then drop your belly downwards, helping your abs stretch. You can do this for 20 seconds and repeat.
- Seated side-straddle stretch
Seated side-straddle is another type of abs stretch you should try. It engages your abs, hips and thigh muscles.
How to do it:
- Sit upright on an exercise mat with your legs apart, then raise your arms to the side. Next, bend your elbows with your fingers pointing up and palms forward. Next, bend the abdominal muscle to the right and the right elbow towards the floor. You can do this for about 20-30 seconds, turn to the left side and repeat.
Core Stretches Yoga
Yoga-style core stretches engage your entire core. Some common ones to try out include;
- Boat pose
This yoga pose improves stability and movement. It engages every core muscle, but majorly the abs and hips.
How to do it:
- Sit up and extend your legs out, then lean back slowly while bending your knees. Keep leaning until your feet are off the floor. You can do this for 10-20 minutes and repeat.
Upper Back Stretches
You should consider doing these stretches to help your upper back. They are:
- Neck side bend and rotation
This type of upper back stretch helps to release your neck muscle.
How to do it:
- You can decide to either sit or stand. Face forward and tilt your neck to the right or rotate clockwise. Hold for about 10 seconds and repeat.
- Shoulder roll
The shoulder roll is an upper back stretch that relaxes the upper back.
How to do it:
- Stand with your arms down at your side; allow your shoulder to rotate for about five rotations forward and backward. Do this 2-3 times and repeat.
Mid-back Stretches
- Passive backbend
Passive backbend is a mid-back stretch that helps relieve tension, improve your posture, and increase your back flexibility.
How to do it:
- Lie on your yoga blocks and rest against the bottom of your shoulder blades, close to your mid-back. Then place a block under your shoulder and another under your head to support your neck and relax while keeping your breath deep and long.
- Seated twist
Seated twist is a type of middle back stretch that helps to improve flexibility and enhances detoxification.
How to do it:
- Sit up with your legs crossed, and then place your right hand behind you and your left hand on your right knee. Twist your heart to the right gently and feel your back open. Look over your right shoulder as far as you can stretch. Repeat on the other side too.
Stretches For Pinned Nerve in the Lower Back
There are different stretches for pinned nerves in the lower back. They are:
- Child’s pose stretch
The Child’s pose stretch helps relieve pinned nerve pain quickly.
How to do it:
- Put your hands and knees down with your knees apart and your big toes still touching. Then straighten your spine, and bow your arms forwards while being laid straight. Let your hand and head touch the floor until you feel pulled by the stretch.
- Leg elevation
This type of stretch can help you relieve pinned nerve pains in your lower back.
How to do it:
- Sit on a stool and elevate your legs; allow your knees and hips to have a 90-degree shape.
Products that can Help Kick Your Core Stretches into Momentum
For abs stretches, lower back stretches, upper-back stretches, hips, and mid-back stretches, you do not need expensive equipment. Items to be used are pocket-friendly and easy to use.
- Ab roller wheel with knee pad accessories is a tool for abs stretching, easy to use and very efficient.
- The OPTP stretch-out strap with stretching exercise poster is an elastic material that can help you stretch your muscle easily without a partner.
Take Home
Core stretches are very important to maintain stability, flexible movement and reduce pain in the body, especially the back region. Weaker core muscles allow your back to be susceptible to back injury and pain, which might become pronounced if not properly cared for. These core stretches like the lower-back stretches, upper-back stretches, mid-back stretches, stretches for pinned nerves, and other types of stretches will help stretch your core muscle.
References
How to Stretch Your Abs and Why It Matters