[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]You know what can really put a damper on your quest to get leaner and stronger? Back pain.
Since the back, specifically the low back, is needed in pretty much every exercise to some degree you can see how quickly your exercise selection will shrink when you have a bad back.
This can be discouraging and causes some people to stop training altogether while they wait for their back to recover. Unfortunately, this can take a long time and when they’re finally ready to return they’ve lost strength, muscle mass, and probably have put on a few pounds of fluff.
Luckily, you can avoid this setback and there are still exercises which you can push hard to get stronger and leaner while your back recovers. Here are some of our favourites:
RFESS (Rear foot elevated split squat)
Basically a single leg squat with your back leg supported on a bench. This exercise is awesome for gaining strength, muscle mass, and can be a great fat loss exercises as well (Try a few sets of 8-10 of these and your heartbeat will feel like the bass is about to drop).
The weight can be loaded in your hands at your sides which means the force from your legs doesn’t have to go through your lower back on the way to the bar in the case of a barbell squat. This allows you to hit the legs hard without worry of causing more damage.
Floor Press
In normal bench press variations leg drive can cause you to arch your back, making them not so great for training with back pain.
In the floor press you lie on the ground and perform a press with either a barbell or dumbbells. The floor and the hip flexed position supports your low back and removes the arch. This also reduces the role of leg drive in the lift so you can still press big weights without the threat of seriously arching and re-injuring your back.
Chest Supported Row
The chest supported row is great because it allows you to hit the muscles of the back hard but removes the strain on the low back from supporting heavy weights in a bent over position.
If you don’t have access to an actual chest supported row you can create your own by supporting yourself on an incline bench and using dumbbells.
Sled Work
At CTS we love the sled as a strength and conditioning tool because there is no spinal loading and no technique. This is great because we can do a high volume of work without fear of taxing your body too heavily or form breakdown from fatigue. Pretty much everyone at our gym does sled work in their programs from Day 1.
Pushes and drags are our favourites. You can load them heavy for slower marching or lighter for sprints. You can even get fancy and pull it with a rope from a seated or supine position. As long as your back is ok you can get really creative!
Train Around It!
A bad back can be discouraging and frustrating, but it shouldn’t keep you from training altogether. Training is always going to have ups and downs and you can use them as an opportunity to be creative and have fun.
By using exercises which allow you to still get a great training effect while you recover you can continue your progress and be ready to get into some hard training when you’re able to do the big basics again.
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