How to take care of your back when Strength Training

You are feeling better and more powerful as you have got your muscles pumped up after a one-hour or so strength training session at the gym. But, the back pain is excruciating now as you overdid a set or two that went unnatural on your muscles. You never know if this pain will go away tomorrow, after a couple of days, or will keep on coming up and take the form of a life-long injury.

Unfortunately, back pain is not a good feeling, and it’s more likely to stay with you for long, particularly if not properly taken care of.  Before we get into the details of preventing the back pain, first let me tell you about the different types of back pain.

Based on how long these pain could stay persistent in your back, they are divided into two types:

• Acute

This type of back pain will usually last for days or maybe weeks. It originates normally with lifting something heavy or an accident where your back is affected. Mostly you don’t need special medical care with this one but it depends on your condition at that moment when it occurs.

• Chronic

Simply know that if back pain is there for more than 3 months you can call it chronic. It is less likely to appear but when it does, you are going to need special medical care and in some cases, you may be required to get surgery.

Fortunately, you can avoid getting indulged in these troubles and how to do that is what this blog post is all about. So, sit back and enjoy this 5-minute read, while I take you to the first section which will inform you about some back support belts you can use to keep your back safe when working out strength.  

Keeping your back safe with the back support belts

What back support belts substitute?

Someone’s holding your back muscles intact when you are lifting weights or performing such other workouts would surely be counted as good back support. But you know right that nobody is going to do that for you. Hence you need to rely on some supportive gadgets made for this purpose, such as the back support belt and others. What they do is that they serve appropriate support to your key back muscles. The belt is designed to be worn around the lower back and it helps in reducing excessive forces on the spine.

Do Back Support belts work?

The forceful exertion of the back when lifting heavy weight affects the spine, while the weightlifting belt stiffens the spine that minimizes these forces. Hence, they do prevent serious back injuries together with restricting bending motions during a workout. But it doesn’t mean that a weightlifting belt is an ultimate solution to all your back problems and injuries, so be very mindful of your back muscles when lifting heavy loads.  

Different Forms of back support

When we say back support, those belts in black must pop up in your mind as you are used to seeing bodybuilders and other fitness enthusiasts lifting weights with them on. But have you seen anyone wearing that kind of belt when performing strenuous activities at home? We bet you haven’t! Because those belts are mostly used by weightlifters who do the heavy lifting in the gym on regular basis. To tackle the domestic back pain that commonly emerges out of performing sweeping, washing, or other activities, a lumbar back support belt is used that looks a bit different from the weightlifting belts.

Should we go with the weightlifting belt then?

Sure you can! Particularly, if you are regularly involved in lifting those heavy gym bars to sculpt those biceps or chest muscles. But keep in mind that you also can use those lumbar braces when you occasionally lift light weights or when performing other forms of exercises, both at your home and gym.

So you are following along very nicely so far, let’s move to the next section of this blog post. 

Preventing the back pain before it gets worse

You must have read or heard the famous saying, ‘prevention is better than cure.’ True here for the back protection as well! Before the pain takes over and stays with you for long, why not stop it at the beginning?.  

Some Lifestyle hacks to prevent the back pain

Let’s talk about one of the best ways to prevent the back pain and that is none other than to keep your muscles strong. For that you at least have to:

• Perform stretching and back strengthening workouts 3 or more days a week.
• Practice standing up and sitting up straight.
• Don’t go for heavy-lifting if you have just started with weight training.
• Minimize strain on your back by losing some weight. Focus on the optimum body weight balance.

Will a proper way of performing a workout can prevent the back pain from evolving?

You got it! Just think why do we need to perform weightlifting exercises? Of course, to hit and sculpt different muscles of the body as the weight put a load on muscles, and as a result, they develop strength and get used to bearing such burden. When you start to lift those heavy gym rods or dumbbells with your hands for exercises such as chest or biceps, your back and shoulder muscles also get stretched. Thus in case a set or two go unnatural on your back muscles, you most certainly have to bear the pain. To prevent this from happening, make sure you know how to perform a specific exercise accurately and in case you start to feel back pain, take a rest.

Can Medications Help?

Pain-killing medicines can help greatly in making the back pain go away, but can they be used to prevent the occurrence of such unrest? You cannot prevent back pain with medicines as they can freeze your back muscles for some time while you are working out. But, they can relieve you from acute pain when it emerges.

Conclusion

You can call yourself a champion of strength training both with weights and without weights, but back pain vests the power to dim your sparkle. That’s why it is important that you take care of it before it gets into the form of chronic from acute and you have to live with it then. Back support belts that are in the form of lumber braces and weightlifting belts can help prevent back pain greatly. Plus, stretching your muscles and learning to perform the exercises accurately will also keep such back problems at bay.