The Best Back Exercises
Truck Drivers suffer tight muscles from sitting all day and this can set you up for severe back injuries if you don’t stretch out before lifting the next heavy load. Rolling Strong Coach Dawn PTA shows you how to protect your back with proper lifting techniques to help prevent pain and injury discomfort.
When you stop the truck, try to take a short walk. It’s really important to get out and stretch your legs as much as you can, not only is it exercise but it’s also good for your back. So when you get out of the truck, take a brief walk to get that circulation going in your legs. This will also help to prevent blood clots.
Once you’ve taken that walk and warmed your back and muscles up a bit, take the time to do one simple exercise that’s going to help prepare your back for lifting that heavy load. When you’ve been in that city position so long your discs have molded and compressed themselves, and if you jump right out and start lifting something heavy, you’re really vulnerable to hurting your back.
- Bend at the knees, keep objects close to your body, hold your abdominal muscles tight and avoid twisting when you lift. You can also use a back brace for added support for the back and abdominal muscles. Never bend from the waist when lifting a heavy object, bend at the knees.
- Keeping moving as much as possible. Our spines are meant to stay in motion. Prolonged positions will tighten muscles and decrease the mobility of the spine.
- Keep you back and abdominal muscles strong. work on strengthening the muscles that support your low back, these are the back extensor muscles (they help maintain proper posture and alignment of the spine). You also need strong hips, pelvic and abdominal muscles to support the back.
- Stretch. You sit slumped over the steering wheel all day. Take a break as often as you can and stretch the other way. This is call back extension exercises. Also, don’t forget to stretch your legs. Tight hamstrings often lead to low back pain. Many people find relief by doing regular yoga.