If you want to stay fit, you have to be friends with common body pains. It’s quite true. Body pain can occur in anyone who consumes most of the day in physical working, moves to much and remains in standing position for longer than usual.
In this article, Wynn fitness club shares information about most common body pains; knee pain and back pain. The fitness club operates on a number of locations in Canada, and has been quite popular.
For Knee Pain
If you’re going through knee pain or an injury, you may be afraid that exercising might prolong the pain. Reality is quite opposite of it.
- Causes: Exercise is meant for muscle strengthening and flexibility, so it will not only reduce the pain, you will be able to avoid further knee pains and injuries.
- Solutions: You should start slowly and increase the strength of your muscle. If you the pain increases, stop the exercise and consult your doctor.
Exercises for Knee Pain
Here are few recommended exercises:
- Three sets of straight leg raises (10 – 15 times in each set1)
- Three sets of hamstring curls (15 in each set). Try to touch your heels with your buttocks, but don’t force it.
- Three sets of leg raises with your stomach in contact with the floor. Keep your bottom and hamstring muscle tight. (at least 15 in one set)
- “Close the Chain” is an advanced version. Touch your back against the wall with your legs open. Bend down slowly while your back and pelvis should be against the wall. Maintain the position for up to 10 seconds. Don’t put too much pressure on your knees by bending too much.
You can join a fitness center to do these exercises with proper training.
For Back Pain
Cycling is a good example to understand the back pain. Many people think cycling is a leg-based exercise, but this is not true. Apart from the basic moving joints of ankles, knees and hips, your upper body is also engaged in cycling.
- With your leg descending, your arm at the same side goes through pulling motion.
- Your hip flexor muscles at the side of ascending leg, become active in order to lower the downward force stored in ascending pedal. One of these muscles is attached to the lumbar spine.
- At the side of the ascending leg, the quadratus and obliqueslumborum muscles become active to stabilize your lower back as well as reduce hip tilting.
If a person is riding with his hips tilting sideways, it’s a sign of muscles becoming fatigued or not fully engaged.
- Causes: If these prime movers have gotten fatigued or they’re not able to keep up, that will put small core muscles under a lot of strain. It may result in muscle strain and discomfort in the back.
Exercise for back pain
Back pain can be prevented by strengthening the core muscles in abdomen, pelvis, hips and lower back. With strong core muscles, you can easily avoid back injuries by maintaining proper balance and stabilizing your body on sharp turns. There are some basic core strengthening exercises such as:
- Abdominal press or plank press
- Abdominal crunch
Alternatively, regular sessions of Pilates or yoga are also helpful in strengthening the core muscles.