Here are some tips for moving more quickly in life and in your profession. Use yoga to strengthen back and muscles.
Who has suffered from lower back pain? The majority of us, at one time or another in their lives, will have. One of the most uncomfortable moments usually occurs when you change positions. Think about getting up from a chair or bending over to pick something up. In a yoga session, think about rising from a lunge or forward fold to a standing position.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise. The low back is an important area for transferring weight from the upper to the lower body, especially when moving. The back’s structural components are not weak or sensitive. Rather, over the course of our lives, they develop stronger and more resilient, as they adjust to this pressure. The low back could still have to work more than necessary if we move inefficiently. So use yoga to strengthen areas.
How therefore can we move effectively in yoga as well as in daily life? The transversus abdominis, which wraps around the waist like a wide belt, provides stability in this region. It is one of the most important abdominal muscles. The assistance we may get from the lower body, though, is something that is sometimes underestimated.
How strong are your leg muscles?
What part of the body comes to mind when you picture a smooth transition from a lunge to a standing yoga pose? If you fast-forward this action, you’ll identify a sprinter’s take off, who is known for having powerful glutes and legs. You might initially think of the low back when you see this movement.
There are a number of smaller postural muscles that surround and support the lower back. But, the gluteus maximus and quadriceps are two of the largest muscles in the body. These muscles are therefore better suited to performing the “heavy lifting” in massive motions.
The gluteus maximus is our main hip flexor. This muscle should exert the most force when we bring the torso up from a lunge (i.e., moving out of hip flexion). In the reverse action, to enable us to controllably return to hip flexion, it should also work eccentrically (contracting as it lengthens).
Use yoga to strengthen your back – Stimulate your glutes…
By connecting more attentively with our legs during yoga transitions, we can stimulate the use of our glutes. Consider the floor to be a trampoline when rising from a lunge or a forward fold, such as Uttanasana. You will bounce up through the body as you descend towards your feet. Our fascial matrix has the ability to store elastic energy, so this isn’t just a figment of our imagination.
The big muscles that make up our hips and legs are covered in fascia. These muscles also serve as the basis for our ligaments and tendons. The Achilles tendon, located at the rear of the ankle, is frequently examined.
As our foot strikes the ground, collagen fibres within the tendon gradually stretch. The fibres then quickly rebound to release elastic energy. This action increases power production beyond what our muscles could create alone. It is easy to see how this helps with high-impact motions like jumping or sprinting, but it also helps with gentler motions like walking or yoga by conserving muscular energy.
The lower body supports the low back and aids in movement efficiency in other ways as well, though. The thoracolumbar fascia forms a strong fascial link between the gluteus maximus on one side of the body and the opposing latissimus dorsi, providing a diagonal sling of support across the low back, according to research. By stabilising the low back and the hip, the fascial chain can be activated, for instance by firing the glutes, which uses less energy from the muscles.
Yoga transitions – how your legs support your lower back
Of course, theory cannot replace actual experience. Feeling the support that strong legs give your low back while moving is the best way to appreciate it. Let’s investigate how to go from the Bird Dog to a Low Lunge and then a High Lunge.
Get down on your knees and softly cinch your waist. Extend your right leg behind you without lowering your belly or slanting your hips. Feel your right glute contract as you lift your foot off the ground. Subtly snuggle your left upper arm bone into its socket while you extend your left arm out in front of you, bicep by your ear. Take a few deep breaths and picture a strong link running across your low back from your left shoulder to your right glute.
Step forward by lowering your left hand and bending your right knee toward your chest. You can use blocks or your hands to propel your right foot far enough forward so that your ankle stacks beneath your knee.
Lift your left knee and tuck in your left toes. Near feel the lowest glute max fibres, bring your right fingertips to your right sit bone (like in the image above). Then, without moving your right foot, move it vigorously back toward your left foot to feel your glute tone once more.
Maintain your focus..
Maintaining that focus, stomp down with your right foot as if on a trampoline in slow motion to raise your arms and chest into a high lunge.
As you progressively lean forward to lower your hands back to the mat, continue to draw in the area around your waist and tighten the skin beneath your right sit bone. Return to bird dog by sweeping your right leg back behind you and your left arm out in front of you. After doing this a few times on the same side to ingrain the sensations, switch sides.
Keep in mind that by concentrating on your lower body, particularly your front leg, you may access the strength of your muscles, improving the movement’s efficiency and lessening the strain on your low back.
There’s no need to think of the lower back as vulnerable despite the fact that it’s one of the most prevalent complaints of modern living. The lower back is incredibly well-suited to striking a balance between mobility and stability, allowing it to distribute weight between the upper and lower bodies in all the different movements that life entails. However, it doesn’t have to carry more than it should; by enlisting the help of the powerful muscles and fascia of the legs, transitions can feel less difficult in both yoga and daily life.
Use yoga to strengthen YOUR back.