Aquatic Exercise and Back Pain

The special properties of water can provide you with excellent benefits if you are trying to heal a back injury. Being in water provides a safe environment for working out your muscles and stretching your body. It also allows you to do more than you would on land by eliminating the constraints imposed by gravity.
Water exercise is done in shallow, mid-deep and deep water, depending upon your level of conditioning and the goals of your workout.

 

Muscle Strengthening

Water exercise can strengthen back, ab and hip muscles, all key for a healthy spine. The flow of water resists movement, and functions similarly to weight training: it gets your muscles strong.Being immersed in water places pressure all over your body. To build strength, you must work your muscles against this pressure.

 

Increasing Joint Range of Motion

The buoyancy of the water helps take the load off your joints. It creates a significant degree of weightlessness, allowing you to perform movements with ease. To develop range of motion, the goal is to take each body part through its full path of motion. However, even with the weightlessness provided by the water, it is best to begin gently and slowly to avoid re-injury.

 

Core Stabilization

The pool is a great place to work on low back and core strengthening. Exercises that work the hips are good for stabilizing the low back. Balance exercises in the water will cause all muscles in your trunk to work to hold you upright.

 

Stay Fit While Your Heal Your Back Injury

Has your doctor or physical therapist advised you to avoid weight bearing and/or high impact exercise until your back heals? Many active people who are injured fret over lost time at the gym. But by substituting your normal routine with water workouts, you can minimize the loss of fitness due to the reduced activity. You can also use the opportunity to get strong in the right places, such as ab, back and hip muscles. Deep water exercises wearing a flotation device and using other pieces of aquatic equipment can help you continue to get strong even through periods of reduced activity. Because you are not doing weight bearing exercises when you workout in the water, the chances of aggravating your injury is greatly reduced.