There’s a reason why the lower back is one of the body’s most prominent features on some men: It gets worked out a lot.
It’s not hard to see why. The lower back is the foundation of the body, and it supports the spine, which houses the spinal cord.
The spine is the conduit through which the brain communicates with the rest of the body. It’s the body’s communication center, and therefore, its health is paramount.
Some of the most common problems with lower back pain include sciatica, disc herniations, degenerative disc disease, and bulging disks in the lumbar spine.
Lower Back Exercises can help you stay fit by doing a combination of stretching and strengthening movements.
Lower Back Exercises for Men
Below you will find several exercises and routines that will help strengthen your back.
Remember to always warm up before these routines, and listen to what your body needs. If you feel any pain or discomfort while doing these routines, stop immediately and consult a physician.
Deadlift
The deadlift is one of the most basic and popular exercises for strength training. It’s an incredibly effective exercise for increasing overall muscle mass and strength, particularly in the lower body, but it can also be used to build upper-body muscle mass or improve core stability.
Here is how you do this exercise:
- Start with your feet shoulder-width apart and your shins touching the bar.
- Bend your knees and hips to lower your body down to the bar, keeping your back straight.
- Grip the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart.
- Keeping your back straight, lift the bar off the ground by extending your hips and knees until your legs are straight.
- Reverse the motion to lower the bar back down to the ground.
The Deadlift is among the best progressions a person can make in terms of building muscle and strength. And while they may be intimidating at first, they’re truly not that difficult to do.
As long as you approach them with the right mindset, you won’t have any issues. And if you want extra help, we recommend hiring a personal trainer for assistance.
They’ll have no trouble showing you how to perform these exercises properly.
Sumo Deadlift
The Sumo Deadlift is an excellent exercise for building mass, power, and strength in the posterior chain of muscles. By learning the correct technique for Sumo Deadlift, you can start introducing this exercise into your workout program.
This is a great exercise to start with the beginner or the advanced lifter. The key to making gains in this exercise is to practice it often and perfect your technique to help build muscle size and strength in your legs.
To do this exercise:
- Stand with your feet far enough apart so that you can comfortably bend down and touch the floor with both hands.
- Take a big step forward until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Your shins should be angled slightly inward so that your knees are at about 90 degrees straight out. Your torso should be parallel to the floor; look at it as though you’re holding a barbell in front of you for balance.
- Lower yourself into a squat position by bending at your hips instead of bending at your knees. Keep your back straight and head up during this movement; do not bend forward or backward!
- Once in position, lift from the bottom of each rep by pushing through the heels of both feet—remember, don’t use momentum here! Push straight up until your thighs are fully extended over the barbell.
The sumo deadlift offers a larger hip range of motion than the conventional deadlift. That helps to ensure that you can activate your glutes and hamstrings properly and generate maximum power in your hips, back and legs when you pull.
The closer you set up to the bar, the easier this move is to learn. It requires less flexibility than the conventional deadlift.
Good Mornings
The Good Morning Exercise focuses on your core, legs, and arms. To achieve a healthy body, you must have strong shoulders, hands, wrists, and legs. This will help with balance and strength in your body which will make it easier to move around.
Let’s take a look at the steps needed to perform the good morning exercise properly.
- Start by standing with your feet hip-width apart, toes pointed forward, and knees softly bent. Hands can be either straight down or crossed over your chest.
- Brace your midline and simultaneously hinge at your hips and push your butt straight back. Keep your lower legs perpendicular to the floor.
- Maintaining a flat back, continue to lower your torso toward the floor until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings or until your back begins to round.
- Press into your feet and drive through your hips to reverse the movement. Use your hamstrings and core to stand upright. Squeeze your glutes at the top.
The Good Morning exercise is one of the most effective exercises you can do to stabilize your shoulders, increase the strength of the muscles around your spine, and improve your overall posture.
Although it is intended to strengthen the posterior chain, there are numerous benefits for other muscle groups as well. This exercise should be included in all warm-up routines for healthy lifters.
Back Extensions
If you are looking for a way to ease back pain, then back extensions might be the perfect exercise for you. This move helps to strengthen the muscles in your back and can also improve your posture.
You can do back extensions with or without weights, but if you are just starting, it’s best to start without any added resistance.
Here is how to properly do this exercise so that you get the most benefits.
- Start by lying on your stomach on an exercise mat.
- Place your hands by your sides or behind your head, whichever is more comfortable for you.
- Keeping your legs straight, slowly lift your chest and head off the ground, using your back muscles to do so.
- Hold this position for a few seconds before lowering back down to the starting position.
- Repeat this move 10 to 15 times.
The Back extension is an important for your back health because they combat the problem of small, tight muscles in the lower back pulling your vertebrae out of alignment.
Generally, the smaller our muscles are, the weaker they are as well. This exercise will strengthen your lower back muscles along with improving your posture.
Romanian Deadlift
The Romanian deadlift is a great exercise for building strength, power, and endurance. It can be performed with either a barbell or a dumbbell. The Romanian deadlift focuses on using the hips as well as the leg muscles.
This exercise will work your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.
Here is how you do this exercise:
- Start by standing with feet shoulder-width apart, holding the barbell or dumbbells in front of your thighs with an overhand grip.
- Keeping your back straight and your knees slightly bent, push your hips back and lower the weight toward your feet until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings.
- Once you reach the stretch point, reverse the motion and raise the weight back to the starting position.
The Romanian Deadlift is a great exercise for developing strength and power in the posterior chain. The posterior chain consists of the muscles in the back of the body, including the erector spinae, glutes, and hamstrings.
Conclusion
Lifting weights is a fantastic way to sculpt a chiseled physique and overall improve your health. But one area of your body you should definitely pay attention to — if you want to avoid back pain and injury — is your lower back.
Paying attention to lower back exercises for men will help keep your body strong, no matter what weightlifting regimen you choose.