If You Have Lower Back Pain, Here Are 3 Simple Solutions.. Plus 1 Good Exercise!

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As a Pilates teacher, I am hearing a lot about low back issues with many of the women in my classes.  While there are several exercises you can do to alleviate low back pain, there are also some things that are even simpler that you might not realize can make a big difference in easing the pain.

  1. Make sure you check your Vitamin D level and if it's low, get a good source of this essential vitamin.  Especially now that the sun is not as strong (at least on the east coast), Vitamin D is needed more than ever.  Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, MD, University Hospital in Zurich, and others have made the case that weak muscles lead to falls and broken bones.  Vitamin D is needed for normal muscle production and strength, and a lack of the vitamin leads to muscle weakness.

  2. Be aware of your posture.  If you sit in a chair for long hours during the day, make sure your abs are sucked in, your pelvic is tucked slightly, your spine is stacked straight with your ears over your shoulders and your shoulder blades drawing down the back.  

  3. Check your stress level - as we all know, stress can cause lots of physical ailments.  If you find your lower back is aching, check in with what's going on in your life and see where you can possibly 'let go' of things you cannot control.  Try deep belly breathing to help eliminate stress.

A Great Foundation-building Exercise:  

Lie on your back with your knees bent and both feet planted on the floor. Feel equal weight on the back of each side of the pelvis. Engage the abdominals and hover one foot off the floor without changing what happens to the back of your body. Keep the back of the body stable and still. Do the same with the other foot.

Imagine that you have a hot bowl of soup on your belly and don’t spill it as the legs move.

Hot Tip:  To advance the Marching, move the leg from the hip while keeping the same angle of the leg as you lower and lift it. When you’ve become confident in the larger motion of the leg, you can begin to scissor the legs past one another.