Spend much of your time sitting down? A sedentary lifestyle, including prolonged sitting at work, can cause or exacerbate neck and back pain.
According to the World Health Organisation, lower back pain is among the top 10 diseases and injuries that are decreasing the quality of life across the global population. It is also the leading cause of activity limitation and work absence throughout much of the world.
“Lower back pain is reaching epidemic proportions. Although it is usually clear what is causing the pain and its chronic nature, people tend to ignore these circumstances and are not willing to change their lifestyle. Lower back pain usually comes away itself, however, the chances of the recurring pain are very high,” says Dr Irina Kliziene, a researcher at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) Faculty of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts.
Spinal stabilisation exercise program
Focusing on the reduction of lower back pain, the scientists from Kaunas University of Technology have devised a spinal stabilisation exercise program for managing lower back pain for people who perform a sedentary job. The exercise programme is based on Pilates methodology and are aimed at strengthening the muscles which support the spine at the lower back, that is the lumbar area.
The programme, is comprised of static and dynamic exercises. The static positions are to be held from 6 to 20 seconds; each exercise to be repeated 8 to 16 times.
After testing the program with 70 volunteers, the researchers have found that the exercises are not only efficient in diminishing the non-specific lower back pain, but their effect lasts 3 times longer than that of a usual muscle strengthening exercise program
According to Dr Kliziene their research demonstrates that the spine stabilisation exercise programme is more efficient than medical intervention or usual physical activities in curing the lower back pain and aiming to avoid the recurrence of the symptoms in the future. Pilates exercises typically recommended for back pain include pelvic curl, single-leg lifts, supine spine twist, and basic back extension. If you are new to Pilates, or experience back pain, you are recommended to learn from a Pilates instructor to ensure the exercises are done correctly and that back pain isn’t exacerbated.
