How to Strengthen Your Lower Back Muscles

How to Strengthen Your Lower Back Muscles

The lower back muscles can often be a source of nagging pain for many individuals. Physical activity, such as lifting objects, or by simply maintaining bad posture when sitting or standing brings about these pains. Lower back pain signals weakness in the lower back muscles. It arises when the muscles have exerted themselves beyond what they can actually handle. Just like any other muscle, exercise helps to strengthen the lower back muscles. Here are three exercises that will help get those muscles stronger and reduce your pain.

Deadlifts

A good exercise to start with that targets the lower back muscles are deadlifts. Not only will deadlifts help strengthen your lower back muscles; they will also hit muscles in the legs and arms as well. Start by grasping a barbell with an alternating grip. One palm should face up and the other should face downward. With feet shoulder width apart, lower your rear until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keeping your back straight and looking up, slowly raise your rear until you are standing straight, lifting the weight off the floor. Now, lower the weight slowly back down to the floor. Repeat for 10-12 repetitions.

Good Morning

Next on the list is the good morning exercise. Performing this exercise will directly target the lower back muscles. Begin by standing with a barbell across your shoulders. Bend at your waist until your chest is parallel to the floor. Finally, raise yourself back to the starting position. Perform 10-12 repetitions. You will want to choose carefully how much weight you use to perform this exercise. Too much and you may get to know the floor better than you would like to.

Superman

Here is an exercise you can perform using your own bodyweight as resistance. Simply begin by laying down on your stomach with your arms extended outward above your head. Simultaneously lift your arms and legs upward and away from the floor. Hold this position for about 30 seconds and then lower your arms and legs down to the floor. Repeat for 10-12 repetitions. To add more resistance, use wrist and ankle weights.

Three exercises that will strengthen your lower back muscles and help relieve your lower back pain. Make sure to use proper form and perform these exercises slowly to benefit from them. Also, remember to warm up those muscles. That is the best way to protect against injury. Good luck and happy exercising.

How to Get a Higher Vertical Leap

How to Get a Higher Vertical Leap

Michael Jordan had it. So did Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb. Current NBA stars LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo fill highlight reels with it, while Boston Celtics 5'9 point guard, Nate Robinson, won the 2008-2009 Slam Dunk Contest displaying it. It is the vertical leap, or as some affectionately call it, “hops.”

Basketball, professional or otherwise, has grown in popularity rapidly partially because of this athletic ability. This coveted asset can mean the difference between a good basketball player and a great one, or at least an entertaining one, though it is not a requirement to become any of these. How can you improve your chances of getting that next rebound or slamming one home? Here are some tips to help you reach stratospheric heights.

Preparation

First, and most important, be sure to consult a physician before starting any workout program to assess your current physical preparedness. Next comes warming up and stretching. One of the best ways to warm up your leg muscles is to jump rope. This not only helps to strengthen the leg muscles, but it also helps improve agility and endurance. In addition, remember the importance of stretching. It reduces the possibility of injury and improves range of motion.

The Important Muscles

The height of your vertical leap depends greatly on the strength of the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. Use weight training to target these major muscle groups. Start with squats, an exercise that provides the benefit of hitting every major muscle group in the lower body. Follow the squats with some leg extensions to work the quads and leg curls for the hamstrings. Finish the workout with some calf raises. Performing these exercises twice a week should help you gain some inches vertically.

Gaining Strength

Remember, when trying to gain strength, you should perform exercises that target the fast-twitch muscle fibers. These fibers grow quickly when given sufficient stimulation. When weight training, exercises should be done with moderately heavy weight for a moderate number of repetitions or around six to eight reps per set. You should also rest for shorter periods in between sets. Recommended rest time for a workout is two minutes.

Plyometric Work

Performing plyometric exercises can also provide a great way to use your own bodyweight to work out the legs. This involves the concept of teaching by doing, incorporating jumping exercises in your regular weight training routing. Plyometric exercises such as jumping up onto an elevated surface, squat jumps and bounding (leaping while running) are great for making the legs stronger for jumping.

Take these steps to reach your goal of jumping higher. Stronger legs provide for greater balance and stability when moving on the basketball court as well. Adding these exercises to your off-season training will greatly benefit you come game time. Get out there, work, and you will soon reach new heights.

The Best Full Body Workout Routine for Building Lean Muscle

The Best Full Body Workout Routine for Building Lean Muscle

Are you looking for that perfect workout routine that will both fat and building muscle at the same damn time?

Well, while this routine may not be perfect, it will get you to your fitness goal of being a lean, muscle machine. It won't happen overnight. You'll need to be consistent with your efforts and you'll need to make sure your diet is on point because without the proper diet, all the exercises in the world won't get you to where you want to go if you're always eating dirty.

This routine is filled with compound exercises for a reason. Working more than one muscle group at a time burns more calories. It also helps complimentary muscle groups to grow and get stronger together. You don't want to have abnormally large biceps paired with under developed triceps, do you?

Let's start from the top and work our way down.

Shoulders, Back, and Biceps - Lat Pulldown

The lat pulldown provides great muscle stimulation to both your shoulders, upper back, and biceps, the trifecta of the glamour muscles. Start with a warm-up set of around 15 to 18 reps and follow it up with 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps of moderate weight. Increase the weight 5 to 10 pounds every week to week and a half to build strength.

Chest and Triceps - Bench Press/Chest Press

To hit the chest and triceps, add the bench press or chest press to your routine. A staple in almost every workout routine imaginable, the free weight bench press will help you build strength much quicker than the machine guided chest press. However, if you don't have a workout partner to spot you, take advantage of the chest press. Four sets with one warm-up set and three sets with moderate weight. To give yourself routine a bit of variety, perform the incline or decline bench press instead.

Lower Back and Hamstrings - Good Morning

A strong lower back helps to reduce the risk of back injury and provides for greater stability when doing the simple things that make like grand, like walking or picking up stuff people drop. The Good Morning exercise not only strengthens those lower back muscles, but also helps to build your hamstrings as well. Not for the faint of heart, it's best to warm-up these muscles and start with moderately low weight if you're just beginning to perform this exercise.

The Entire Leg and Abs - Dumbbell Lunges

While the squat is the king of compound exercises and feel free to add them to your workout routine if you like, lunges run a close second to getting your legs in shape. They're exhausting because they not only activate the largest muscle group in the body, but they also require the use of your abs to maintain balance and control throughout the movement. Four sets of these beginning with the warm-up will get your legs primed and ready to go.

The Entire Body - Elliptical

Last, but certainly not least, is cardio and the elliptical is a beast when it comes to challenging the heart and lungs. Start and end your workout routine with cardio, high intensity at the beginning and low intensity for the cool down. By combining cardio with the weight training, you're encouraging your body to burn calories and fat at a higher rate. Try to get in 10 to 15 minutes on the elliptical prior to weight training and cool down for roughly 5 to 10 minutes after. Feel free to insert your favorite cardio exercise in here as well from time to time to add some variety.

Conclusion

And there you have it. A full body routine that will encourage muscle growth while burning off fat. You'll definitely be sweating after a few of these sessions, so make sure to bring a towel and plenty of water. Also, drink plenty of water prior to starting your routine to ensure proper hydration. Perform these three to four times a week, periodically raising the weight you train with and the duration of your cardio exercise, and you'll begin to see changes in no time. And remember to fuel your body with a proper diet in ensure you're getting the right nutrients for lean muscle growth. What you put into your body is just as important as what you do with your body.