Many beginners, coming to the gym with the aim of “pumping up for the summer”, immediately rush off the bat, trying to load all the muscles so that they grow faster. And if they still do not forget about the warm-up, then they deliberately ignore the stretching, considering it fun for girls. Surprisingly, exercises for the development of flexibility of the back and other parts of the body are neglected not only by novice athletes, but also by experienced ones. This unforgivable misconception often causes muscle sprains and even ligament ruptures. Muscles that are stiff and unstretched are much more prone to injury, especially when it comes to training with heavyweights.
The causes of damage to the back due to its lack of flexibility can be not only physical exercises but also any household actions: a sharp increase in weight, an attempt to warm up well after a whole day of sitting at a computer, carrying out any heavy work around the house (cleaning, repairing, moving furniture) … At the same time, it is not the elderly with age-related back diseases that are at risk, but the most active categories of citizens aged 20 to 50 years. According to statistics, about 80% of the world’s population has experienced back pain at least once in their lives, and about a quarter of them live with constant pain syndrome. Avoiding serious back injuries at home and in the gym will help you regularly train your back to develop flexibility. More about this in our today’s material.
Why should the back be more than just strong?
To answer this question, you have to take a short excursion into human anatomy. So, the core of the trunk is the spine, which consists of 4 sections:
- cervical.
- chest.
- lumbar.
- sacral.
The vertebrae are not static, they are mobile and fastened together by joints, and intervertebral discs act as shock-absorbing pads that soften the force of impact when jumping. Thanks to the ligaments, the vertebrae are held together as a whole. At the same time, the spine is very flexible and mobile in motion. Inside, the vertebrae have a channel in which the spinal cord is located. The spinal nerve roots depart from it, which in the system form a nervous network that connects the spine with all other organs. Any squeezing of the root leads to severe pain, which can respond both in the back and in any organ where this root is “brought”. This is precisely the main cause of back pain in a healthy person.
Now about the role of muscles. Strongly developed muscles during intense physical exertion protect the spine, discs, and nerve roots from excessive stress, as a result of which tears and pinches do not occur. Accordingly, a person with an undeveloped muscular corset will be much more likely to suffer from accidental back breaks. However, muscles can also be damaged by breaking the fibers. This is a very painful and long-lasting injury. And it happens most often due to the fact that the athlete overloads the back with weights, but does not care about the development of plasticity. As a result, the muscles do not react well to stretching-compression and, if the load is too heavy, at best they suffer from sprains, and at worst they can break.
Conclusion: even if you do not go in for professional sports, but want to have a healthy back, do first of all stretching its muscles, which can be done quite successfully at home.