5 Ways to Exercise Regularly for Back Pain Relief in the New Year
December 23, 2009
by: Sylvia Marten
Exercising on a more consistent basis is a common resolution for the New Year, with the benefits of relieving back pain often tangible but the actual process of sticking to an exercise program much more difficult.
While New Year’s resolutions are meant to be broken, here are some simple tips that you can use to make exercise for chronic pain a normal part of your 2010.
KISS – Keep It Simple Silly (and Fun) for General Pain
Knowing how or where to start with an exercise program is often one of the most difficult challenges to overcome, with some people so intimidated that they never even get started. With this in mind, it is often more beneficial to begin with simple low impact aerobic exercises and then build up in time to more stressful activities rather than jumping into difficult activities from the get go.
Patients are advised to check with their doctor first before starting a new exercise program beyond simple stretching. From here, consulting with a physical therapist may offer a quick and easy way to learn more about beginner exercise programs for your lower back, or simply checking out the many educational articles in the Spine-health Exercise Health Center may provide you with the information you need to get started and progress.
Be Prepared: Allot Small Chunks of Time in Your Schedule for Exercise
Oftentimes, patients are able to adhere to exercise programs early in the New Year before everyday challenges involving work, family and other areas get in the way.
To counteract this common occurrence, try your hardest to block out 15-20 minutes a day, 3-4 times a week for you to exercise. If you’re a morning person, perhaps this means getting up before the rest of the family and doing your specific exercises. Maybe it means that you exercise when you get home from work.
Whatever the case, consider exercises that are flexible and go anywhere. For example, many exercises can be done on the floor in the front of television, which is good news for those people who crave TV. In other cases, simple exercise walking that emphasizes proper walking techniques and utilizes good walking shoes can be incorporated into daily activities, such as walking to and from the train station before and after work, for patients whose free time is scarce to say the least.
For more information, see:
Stay Motivated: Set Meaningful, Mini-Goals
Before starting an exercise program, determine your goals. Are you trying to lose weight, ease back pain, tone the body, accomplish all of the above, or do something else?
With an understanding of these overall goals, set modest, mini-goals at the start. For example, early in your exercise program, your goals may simply be doing your exercise on a daily basis throughout the first couple of weeks, thus establishing a routine. By the end of the first month, you may boost your mini-goals to include losing a few pounds or stepping back and analyzing how your back pain has felt since starting an exercise program.
Writing out mini-goals that you feel are attainable is often a good way to motivate yourself to exercise consistently. If discipline figures to be a problem, move on to the next point.
For more information, see:
Maintain Discipline: Think Outside the Box to Retain Focus and Sharpness
If you’re motivated to exercise but worried that you’ll lose interest and discipline as a result of becoming bored with simple stretching and strengthening exercises, expand your horizons.
For example, consider exercise programs that may be foreign but appealing to you, such as yoga or pilates. Invest in a weekly yoga program or a gym membership, with a financial commitment possibly causing you to exercise on a more regular basis. Participate in these activities with family or good friends, who may provide you with additional motivation and support to push forward.
For some people, networking and speaking with other chronic sufferers (such as in the Spine-health Forums) is a good way not only to learn how others have used exercise to help alleviate their symptoms but to get ideas on how they’ve been able to adhere to exercise programs.
For more information, see:
Have Target Vision: Exercise for Specific Conditions and Perform Your Program As Intended
If your pain has been attributed to a specific source, know that there are specific exercises out there to target such culprits.
Of course, if you’re planning an exercise program this year, it’s important that you are not only doing the right exercises for specific symptoms but performing them as indicated. Otherwise, you could further aggravate your pain.
Oftentimes, performing exercises the right way on a daily basis can provide quick and effective pain relief, providing patients with the motivation to continue with their programs as a result of these tangible and satisfying results.
Once again, seeing a physical therapist is often a great way to understand the purpose and correct performance of exercises. In the meantime, learn more about specific exercises for the following conditions:
As exercise will hopefully become part of your routine, try to ensure that these simple exercises do not become too mundane. To make exercising more enjoyable, put your IPOD on shuffle or throw on one of your favorite CDs, which can divert your attention and make it seem as if time is flying by. In other words, associate exercise with something that is stimulating to you rather than something that involves going through the motions.
For more information, see:
Remember that with the right amount of research, preparation and commitment, more consistent exercise can be attainable beyond just the first week of the New Year.
Best of luck in reaching your goals in 2010, and happy holidays.
- Exercise and Back Pain
- Stretching for Back Pain Relief
- Core Body Strength Exercises
- Rehabilitation and Exercise for a Healthy Back
- Exercise Ball Uses
- Physical Therapy Benefits For Back Pain