I have the feeling I’ve always had a weak back.
Some 4 months ago I started working out regularly. Now I can almost touch the floor with my hands without bending my knees.
While doing this exercise I heard a small crack on my back, nothing serious.
Since then I can lift weights easier than before but my back still hurts a bit. My back doesn’t hurt as much after coming home from work, which was normal before.
What else could I do to have a stronger back?
Yoga in general and deadlifts are what I do. Back extension in both directions laying on your belly on a bench is good for strengthening it safely, start with small range of motion and extend it as you can.
Remember a few things - we spend more time bent forward than back, so make sure to strengthen the back in the arched direction as well. The whole body is connected so develop it in a balanced way. And move in every direction (intentionally). That last one is what yoga is so good for.
If you have chronic back pain (not temporary, and not linked to an activity), you need to see a doctor first.
No, really. See a doctor. Because ALL of the exercises you see can seriously injure you, even permanently, depending on your exact condition. What works miracles for someone else may work backwards for you. Even if they have a similar condition, or it’s in a similar group (e g. Core strengthening)
And above all else, listen to your body. If it hurts, stop doing it.
Source: I’ve been through this the hard way
This, a thousand times. Also echoing what someone below said that a physiotherapist may be best, but in my country, the doctor refers to a PT.
The reason why getting proper medical input is important is because often back pain arises because of long standing, complex imbalances e.g. I had a weak core, which caused my legs to lock in a way that sort of compensated, which caused me to have an odd gait and to fall lots. Generally improving your strength was a good step, but if you’re experiencing pain like this, you may need help in identifying any underlying weaknesses.
Especially because injuries don’t just come from heavy or intensive exercise. I knew someone who had upper back pain that likely stemmed from poor posture. They identified the muscles that were painful and started doing stretches to that area. Even though it was only light intensity stretching they were doing, they were inadvertently exacerbating the root problem, which they didn’t learn until they had to be seen by a doctor urgently.
I’m on the yoga train. Specifically downward dog into a bunch of cat/cow’s mixed in with other stuff.
As others have mentioned, core exercises will be key here.
Some more traditional non-core exercises like squats and deadlifts will be engaging your core muscles (and a reminder that your ‘core’ is your whole trunk/body and not just your abs!), but you can progress this along with additional core exercises.
As someone that sits a lot for work, I really like to do ‘supermans’ and variations of them, a basic one is to lie flat on your stomach with arms and legs extended, then raise your arms and legs off the floor. You can hold, do them as reps, “swim” in the air, add in some pulls (like an overhead row if you have a resistance band or something you can attach in front of you).
Yoga has been mentioned below, but I would add Pilates to the list as well, there are plenty of core exercises to go at.
