Exercise Treatment for Back Pain

Developed by Allan M. Levy, M.D.

1) Knee Pull
Lie flat on your back and grasp one knee with interlaced fingers. Keeping your back flat, pull your knee toward your chest and hold for 20 seconds. Switch to the other knee and repeat the stretch.

2) Forehead to Knee Stretch
Lower your forehead between your knees while standing. Go as far as you can go, and then grasp behind your knees and try to go a little farther. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds. Start with three repetitions and then increase gradually by one every other day until you reach 12 repetitions.

3) Hurdler Stretch (Standing)
While standing, put one foot on a chair in front of you. Now bend your forehead forward and try to touch it to your knee. Use the same number of repetitions as for the forehead to knee stretch. Repeat with the other leg.

4) Pelvic Tilt
While lying on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, relax the back muscles and tighten your abdominal and buttock muscles to press your back flat against the floor. This will tilt your pelvis forward. Once you have a totally flat back, do the same number of repetitions as for the forehead to knee stretch.

5) Abdominal Curl
Lie on your back, knees bent and feet flat on the floor, with your hands clasped behind your head. Slowly curl your shoulder blades up off the floor, leaving your back on the floor. Hold for five seconds and slowly lower your head and shoulders. Start with five repetitions, increasing the number by five as the curls get easier.

6) Reverse Sit Up
This should not be started until later in the program. This involves working with a partner, who will have to hold your legs down. Lie on your stomach on a table, with only your legs and pelvis on the table. Have your partner hold your ankles while you bend at the waist off the edge until your forehead is pointing to the floor. Then slowly lift your upper body until it is horizontal again. Do five repetitions and add two at a time as this becomes easier.

7) Back Extension
Lie on your stomach. Raise your head and shoulders. Hold for 10 seconds, and then return and relax. Do five repetitions, build up by twos as it becomes easier.

Exercising During Pregnancy

Just because you’re pregnant doesn’t mean that exercising has to stop, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states:

“Healthy women should get at least two and one half hours of moderate-intensity aerobic activity a week during pregnancy and the time after delivery, preferably spread through the week. Pregnant women who habitually engage in vigorous aerobic activity or who are highly active can continue during pregnancy and the time after delivery, provided they remain healthy and discuss with their health care provider how and when activity should be adjusted over time.”

Some Benefits of Exercise:

• Helps reduce backaches, constipation, bloating, and swelling
• May help prevent or treat gestational diabetes
• Increases your energy
• Improves your mood
• Improves your posture
• Promotes muscle tone, strength, and endurance
• Helps you sleep better
• May decrease labor time and difficulty of labor

Sanctioned Guidelines for Exercising During Pregnancy for Otherwise Healthy Women (Found in Exercising Through Your Pregnancy by James Clapp M.D.)

• Regular, moderate intensity and duration exercise sessions are preferable.
• Recommended exercises include stretching, stationary cycling, swimming, and walking. Other types are either contraindicated (not recommended) or require modification.
• Avoid jerky, bouncy, and wide range of motion movements and exercises that involve straining, jumping, or sudden changes in direction.
• Don’t exercise lying on the back after the fourth month.
• Five-minute periods of warm-up and cool-down stretching are recommended, but don’t stretch to the point of maximal resistance.
• Women with sedentary lifestyles should begin with short-duration, low-intensity activity and increase gradually.
• Stop exercise when unusually fatigued; stop and consult a physician if any unusual symptoms occur. i.e.: Vaginal bleeding, dizziness or feeling faint, increased shortness of breath, chest pain, headache, muscle weakness, calf pain or swelling, uterine contractions, decreased fetal movement, or fluid leaking from the vagina.
• Increase caloric intake to cover the demands of the exercise and take fluids liberally before, during and after exercise.
• Avoid environments with excessive heat and humidity when you exercise.

Pregnancy is a special time for the mother to take extra care of herself, not just for her but now for the new addition as well. Exercise is an essential part of being healthy. Remember an essential rule when in doubt of an exercise: Use your gut instinct to judge and it usually won’t lead you astray. Be smart but don’t be afraid to challenge yourself or add a little excitement into your exercise routine.

If you have any special conditions or concerns please communicate with your doctor to find the best choice for you and your baby. Happy exercising! 

Workouts You Can Do With Little Space and No Weights

Adjust the time or amount to challenge yourself. Try picking a variety of muscle groups for each exercise session. You can do multiple sets of each exercise. Work out for 10-15 minutes (adding more time as wanted 30-40 minute routine could be a good goal, you would have to repeat exercises to do that or add some cardio) with little to no break between each exercise. Add one of the four ab workouts at the end.

60 seconds- burpees/body builders: Start in a standing position and bend your knees and place your hands on the ground. Extend your legs back into a push up position. Do a push up. Bring your knees back in towards chest and stand back up. This should be a continuous motion and be fluid. UPPER/LOWER/CORE

60 seconds plank UPPER/LOWER/CORE

60 seconds mountain climbers: Start by getting on your hands and feet in a prone position. Keeping your body parallel to ground drive your knees up towards your chest alternating back and forth. Repeat this movement for the required number of seconds. UPPER/LOWER/CORE

50 Squats: remember weight on the heels, knees don’t go past toes! Slow and in control QUADS

60 seconds triceps dips TRICEPS

50 Squats double-time: Twice as fast as your regular squat QUADS

Pyramid drill 1 jack one push up, 2 jacks 2 pushups, 3 jacks 3 pushups, you get the idea pyramid up to 10 UPPER/LOWER/CORE

60 seconds lunges: Remember knee doesn’t go past your forward toe QUADS/HAMSTRINGS

60 sec power lunges: normal stationary lunge position, jump the back leg to the forward leg position and the forward leg to the back starting position QUADS/HAMSTRINGS

60 sec side plank CORE

60 sec fast feet: Squat like position move feet as fast as you can LOWER BODY

60 sec squat jumps: Squat down and in the down position jump up with both feet and land with knees slightly bent ready to squat down again LOWER BODY

100 Squats 10 regular(slow and steady) - 10- pulses(in the down part of the squat, bounce ever so slightly up and down for 10 counts) 10 regular - 10 extra slow - 10 regular - 50 double time (twice as fast as a your regular squat)QUADS

"15 up 15 down" technique: Start with 15 push-ups, then immediately do 15 sit-ups. Without rest, continue this repetition with 14 push-ups, 14 sit-ups, 13 push-ups, 13 sit-ups, etc... counting all the way down to one. CORE/UPPER BODY

ABS
PICK ONE OF THE FOUR WORKOUTS TO COMPLETE EACH EXERCISE SESSION


1) TOTAL ABS CIRCUIT WITH BASIC DESCRIPTIONS
Basic Crunch -
• 1. Start position: Lie back onto floor with knees bent and hands behind head. Keep elbows back and out of sight. Head should be in a neutral position with a space between chin and chest.
• 2. Leading with the chin and chest towards the ceiling, contract the abdominal and raise shoulders off floor or bench.
• 3. Return to start position. Do 20 reps.
• Works the upper abs
Reverse Crunches -
• 1. Lie on the floor and place hands on the floor or behind the head.
• 2. Bring the knees in towards the chest until they're bent to 90 degrees, with feet together or crossed.
• 3. Contract the abs to curl the hips off the floor, reaching the legs up towards the ceiling.
• 4. Lower and repeat for 20 reps.
• Works the lower abs
Lying Side Crunches -
• 1) Lie with back on floor with knees bent.
• 2) Let your knees fall to the right so that your hips are somewhat rotated.
• 3) Leading with the chin and left shoulder, contract the ab muscles and raise left shoulder off floor or bench towards left knee.
• 4) Return to start position. Repeat with other side. Do 20 reps per side.
• Works the obliques (side abs)
Air Bike Crunches -
• 1. Start by lying on your back with your hands behind your head and thighs bent 90 degrees at your hip.
• 2. Simultaneously curl your right shoulder and left knee up towards the center of your body until your elbow and knee touch. Return to the starting position and repeat with the other side...
• 3. Continue by alternating sides. Do 20 reps (each elbow touch to the left & right side counts as one rep).
• Works the upper & lower abs, & the oblique’s
Plank -
• 1. Start by placing your forearms on the ground and forming a plank with your forearms and feet.
• 2. Hold this position keeping your body parallel to the ground.
• Hold this position for 30 seconds - to start...Try to work your way up to holding the plank for 1 minute.
• Works the core & the transverse abdominus

2) ALL OVER ABS
• Knees bent, regular crunches x 16
• Side crunches x 16 each side
• Twisting crunches x 8 (crunch up, twist to side, twist back to middle, lower to floor)
• Reverse crunches (legs pointed toward ceiling, lift hips/push heels to ceiling) x 16
• Lower/Lift legs x 8 (down 2 counts, up 2 counts, careful with lower back, place hands underneath rear end to support back)
• Combine previous two exercises x 16 (lower legs, lift, and continue to lift hips up into reverse crunch)
• Planks with hip touches x 16 (lift and lower body side to side so that the hip or thigh touches the floor)
• This workout can be done with 3 pound hand weights for a more advanced abdominal workout.

3) V SIT ABS
• Lie on the floor, stretched out. At the same time lift both legs and upper body up into a V-position with arms reaching up on an angle, shoulders down and chest lifted. Slowly return back to out stretched position. Repeat 8x
• Next come up in same V-sit but twist to the right then return back down. Come up in same V-sit but twist to the left then return back down. Repeat 8x
• Next come up in same V-sit, but bring right leg up only then return back down. Come up in same V-sit, but bring left leg up only. Repeat 8x
• Next come up in same V-sit, but bring right leg up, then left leg up, then return both back down. Repeat 8x
• Finally come up in same V-sit, but weighted hands ( or hands on ground) are use to brace you as you lift both legs up and hold for 5 seconds then return back down. Repeat 8x.
• Can repeat each sequence 8x then 6x then 4x. This helps you learn the move while getting a great abdominal workout.

4) 100 SIT UPS
• 16 Crunches, knees bent
• 16 Elbow to knee twists, alternating
• 16 Hip raises or reverse crunch, feet up 90 degree angle
• 16 Double crunches (reverse crunch and crunch together)
• 16 Scissor leg lifts (one leg straight up, one down, straight legs)
• 16 Bicycles
• 4 Slow roll ups for the grand finale

Good Luck and happy exercising!