Back pain occurs for many reasons. Some of them include poor posture, sudden injury, or wear and tear on the body. So, when you visit your chiropractor for injury treatment in Lehigh Acres, they might recommend pool exercises as an effective method for treating back pain.
You’ll find that working out in water has many benefits for easing your pain. If you perform water exercises correctly, they can eliminate back pain and prevent further problems in the future. This article will explore five pool exercises for easing back pain.
Swimming as a Low-Impact Exercise Recommended for Injury Treatment in Lehigh Acres
Working out in the water is effective for all people, including people struggling with back pain. The water takes the pressure off your body, allowing your joints and muscles to move freely.
Water is also buoyant and helps to support 90% of your weight, ensuring less stress on your joints and spines. Therefore, your body doesn’t have to deal with gravity when in the water.
So, you will experience a broader range of motion. It is also relatively healthy for your heart due to the resistance during water exercises.
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How Pool Exercises Can Minimize Back Pain
Back pain makes your muscles stiffer, weaker, and sorer. However, exercising in the pool allows your body to use the water’s natural resistance to strengthen your muscles. Consequently, all your muscles are engaged when you move through the water, ensuring a healthy, full-body workout.
When your muscles become stiff, they’ll lose several functions. But pool exercises provide a therapeutic and gentle approach to regaining and improving flexibility. Once you begin pool exercises, you’ll notice a significant improvement in your coordination, balance, and endurance.
Weak back muscles also cause back pain. Therefore, water workouts are beneficial for people exercising in a pool. The water also provides your body with a cushion to remove stress from your back.
Pool exercises strengthen your muscles with little to no risk of injuries. However, some people don’t feel their muscles strengthening outside the water and therefore opt for lifting heavy weights. But water adds 12 times greater resistance than air, explaining why moving through the water can be challenging.
As part of injury treatment in Lehigh Acres, pool exercises minimize back pain by increasing blood flow. The water pressure encourages blood flow to muscles and improves your heart and lung function by requiring them to work hard against the water.
5 Pool Exercises to Ease Back Pain
At Lehigh Acres, we use chiropractic treatment for back pain. So, water exercises may be part of your injury treatment. However, you must wait 30 minutes after your chiropractic care to perform these pool exercises.
The five pool exercises reviewed here will make your back feel fresh and limber.
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Kick Board Balance
A kickboard is an excellent tool for building a stronger base in your lower back for stability. Some activities you can try on the kickboard include:
- Sitting on the board at the shower end of the pool and achieving balance there.
- Keeping your spine at a straight angle, sit up straight and utilize your abdominal muscles for balance for a minute.
Rest is vital in between sets of this pool exercise. This is because the risk of injury due to loss of form is higher when you’re tired. Therefore, resting ensures your recovery and prepares you for the next set of exercises.
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Superman Stretch
You perform the superman stretch to strengthen your lower back. It will ease the muscles in a relatively weightless environment and allow your spine parts to loosen up. To achieve the superman stretch, follow these steps:
- First, hold onto the pool’s edge with both hands and keep your shoulders wide.
- Next, lift your legs behind you and let them float to the surface.
This exercise strains your neck, so you can allow your head to rest in the water and come up for breaths periodically.
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Leg Lifts
Leg lifts can improve strength and flexibility in your hips. This can, in turn, improve your lower back pain. So, to successfully perform leg lifts, follow the steps below:
- Hold a wall for support and stand on one leg. Raise the other leg in front of you and keep it straight.
- Stretch as far as you comfortably can. Although you need to push your limits, don’t force them.
- Repeat this action on the other side.
Leg lifts bring much action to your core. Once you feel balanced and supported at the pool’s edge, pick your hands up to add some challenge to the pool exercise.
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Underwater Squats
Squats are effective in promoting body-wide muscle building. They also work to improve upper and lower back strength. It’s easy to perform this pool exercise; simply follow the steps below.
- First, go to the shallow end of the water.
- Next, stand straight and place your feet hip-width apart.
- Now, squat down until you reach a position similar to sitting in a chair. Ensure your knees are not in front of your toes.
- As you squat, ensure you inhale and exhale as you get back up.
- While standing up, ensure you engage your core and keep your back straight.
- Ensure your arms are bent and close to your body during this exercise with your palms facing down.
You can repeat this exercise in 10 sets. However, rest immediately if you start feeling fatigued.
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Water Aerobics
Water aerobics is fun and effective, which explains why most gyms offer this class. However, water aerobics feels like most exercises above water, like jogging beside your dog. The difference is that water aerobics occur in the pool.
So, you can enjoy the benefits while also taking advantage of the featherlight feeling of being underwater. If you perform water aerobics, ensure you warm your muscles for some minutes and cool down after the exercise. This activity ensures your muscles can recover from the activity and also prevents additional back pain.
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See a Chiropractor for Injury Treatment in Lehigh Acres Today
Pool exercises can ease back pain and strengthen your core muscles. Although it goes a long way in improving your spinal health, speaking to a chiropractor is a good step if your back pain lasts longer than a few weeks.
We provide various effective techniques to heal your back pain and other accident injuries at Specific Care Chiropractic. As the best injury treatment center in Lehigh Acres, we are patient-centric and will develop a specialized treatment plan tailored to your needs. A speedy recovery is achievable with our assistance, so book a consultation with our chiropractors today.
