Looking for some effective and best exercises to relieve lower back pain for boxers?
Lower back pain issues are common among boxers due to shoulders and hips tightening, restricted movements, microfractures, and many other reasons. The lower back pain is often caused by grappling, the impact of strikes, or an improper fighting posture.
Training, especially at high intensity, can cause your back to become inflamed and overworked, eventually causing pain and nagging injuries that not only reduce your performance but can keep you from competing.
So, keep you calm as this article enlists the best exercises to relieve lower back pain for boxers.
Why are Exercises Effective in Lower Back Pain? The Science Behind it!
Exercise and fitness activities allow the intervertebral discs to exchange water and receive nutrients, which helps keep your back strong.
In addition, fluid exchange helps reduce swelling in other soft tissues that occur naturally around an injured disc.
Lack of exercise increases swelling and causes the disc to become malnourished and degenerate, causing common back and spine issues.
Exercising the back helps keep the connective fibers of your ligaments and tendons flexible, thus reducing stiffness, and stretching mainly helps to relieve lower back pain.
Increased mobility through back training prevents tearing of connective fibers under stress, preventing injuries and back pain.
Another efficacious effect of exercise is to stretch and strengthen the muscles that support the back and help cope with spinal cord pain relief.
The abdominal and back muscles act as an inner corset supporting intervertebral discs, facet joints, and ligaments.
Moreover, if the back and abdominal muscles are weak, you will not be able to support your back properly.
Back exercises strengthen these supporting muscles to prevent overuse of the soft tissues and help provide proper support for the spinal structures and spinal cord pain relief.
6 Vital Exercises to Relieve Lower Back Pain for Boxers
Now that you are up with why exercises are effective in treating the lower back pain caused by boxing let’s dwell directly on the top 6 exercises to opt for. There are:
- Eagle Exercise
- Rotational Planks
- Angry Cat Happy Dog Exercise
- Medicine Ball Exercise
- Roll out Wheel Exercise
- Massage Ball
Now, let’s blow by blow and discuss them in detail!
1. Eagle Exercise
The first exercise is the eagle that stretches back as well as hips. Along with rotational mobility, this is an excellent exercise for shoulder and back pain.
First of all, bring the knee and hip to an equal level. To start the stretch from your chest, keep your arms lower than your chest instead of just flinging them.
Remember that your shoulders touch the ground, and your knees should be as close to the ground as possible.
The piriformis muscle passes directly over the sciatic nerve and strengthens the muscle. Although it is a less dynamic stretch, it manages to stretch the piriformis muscle and helps relieve the sciatic nerve.
This exercise primarily focuses on the Quadratus Lumborum, which is basically at the hip joint and connects to the lower ribs for lateral flexion.
The main reason for tightening the quadriceps is that the oblique and lateral plus core stabilizers are not as strong and also cause restriction in thoracic rotation.
2. Rotational Planks Exercise
Rotational plank is considered a bodyweight exercise as it is an anti-lateral and anti-rotation flexion exercise that targets lateral stabilizers. Get into a plank position with your feet slightly wider than hip-width.
Next, bring your arms parallel to each other, cross your hips, and engage your shoulders with the glutes. Then roll sideways while resisting the twist and side bend, then roll and twist again to perform the contralateral bend motion. Keep your hips high so that your body line stays straight, and then twist it into place.
3. Angry Cat Happy Dog Exercise
In the Angry cat happy dog exercise, the rectal spine eye is responsible for the extension of the spine and tight hips.
The main goal is to relieve some stains off the rectal spine muscles by improving thoracic extension. The thoracic extension is from the top of the back to the midpoint of the back.
Reach the happy dog position first, lean back, and then try to enter the angry cat, which requires you to bend over. As a result, your range of motion will improve, and your back muscles will become stronger and toned up.
4. Medicine Ball Exercise
Hold the medicine ball by your upper back and cross your hands as you tilt your head back, keeping your hips on the floor.
Straighten your back as much as possible and then return. This will improve the stretch in your upper back, and clap your hands just behind your head for more spots. It has a stiff back to lift your hips, keep them tight.
Read More: 7 Best Medicine Ball Exercises for MMA
5. Roll Out Wheel Exercise
Anti-extension exercises through the core help strengthen core muscles.
Starting with the exercise, grab the rollout wheels and perform a normal rollout to sit down. Remember not to stretch.
The ribcage should be locked with the trunk fixed, and the hip joints should be fixed at all times to avoid a full range of motion. Do not roll out too long as the core may not be able to withstand the tension. When returning, pull your shoulders back, not your hips.
6. Massage Ball Exercise
The piriformis muscle struggles to sit fully on the hips, radiating the legs down a bit. This muscle is located behind the hips, below the glutes, responsible for the lateral rotation and hip abduction whilst it’s flexed.
Soft tissue release work works best for the piriformis. Take a massage ball and pop the ball into the glute, which helps to stretch the glutes and target piriformis.
If you go with a straight leg, the glute will be switched, and the ball won’t be able to get to the piriformis due to soft tissue release, which will be quite superficial. Move slowly onto the ball and swap the legs after a few reps.
Conclusion
There is no second thought that lower back pain causes discomfort under the rib arch and above the inferior gluteal folds. It can be caused by straining the muscles and tendons in your back.
However, to cope with the lower back pain issues caused by boxing, the above-given exercises, and workouts prove to be quite beneficial.
So, stop your search right here, and try these best exercises to relieve lower back pain for boxers instantly!
