Lower Back Workouts | Strngthening The Lower Back

Lower Back Workouts

Weight Training Advice

One of the most important areas of the body to strengthen through weight training is the lower back. Even though the spinal erector muscles of the lower back aren't a muscle group that are going to get huge like the quadriceps, pecs, or biceps, you can get a nice amount of thickness there if you do lower back workouts.

Having strong lower back muscles is also a must if you want lift heavy with other muscles, especially the legs. There's no way you're going to be able to squat heavy enough to get big legs if you can't handle a lot of weight on your upper back due to a weak lower back. Even exercises like shoulder presses may be adversely affected if you have a weak lower back.If you play any sport it's a must to do lower back workouts to avoid injury and have the overall body strength to be competitive. Even if you're not an avid weight trainer you should try to build some strength in the lower back to avoid having problems in the area.

The main exercise in any lower back workout routine should be the deadlift. While the deadlift is a great exercise for overall strength, it's especially beneficial to the lower back. To perform the deadlift properly you'll want to use mostly leg strength to get the weight off of the floor and use your lower back as you get your body into a standing up position. It's important to arch rather than bend your lower back when deadlifting as much as possible.

Other great exercises to do during a lower back workout are good mornings and hyperextensions. To do good mornings you need to have a weight on your upper back like you do when you squat, but instead of squatting you bend forward at your hips with your lower back arched until your upper body is a bit above parellel to the floor. You must careful when doing good mornings in your lower back workout - don't use to much weight or you could end up hurting your lower back. Hyperextensions are done by getting on a hyperextension bench and bending forward at the waist. For these you can use just your own body weight or hold a light weight to your chest.

Here's a sample lower back workout:

Light lower back workout

1-2 sets of deadlift for 10-15 reps

1-2 sets of good mornings for 15-20 reps

1-2 sets of hyperextensions for 15-20+ reps

Medium lower back workout

2-3 sets of deadlift for 5-10 reps

1-2 sets of good mornings for 10-15 reps

1-2 sets of hyperextensions for 10-15 reps

Heavy lower back workout

3-5 sets of deadlift for 1-5 reps

1-2 sets of good mornings for 7-10 reps

1-2 sets of hyperextensions for 10-15 reps

Other than the deadlifts you'll want to keep your reps higher and your weights lighter so you don't put to much pressure on your lower back. The deadlift, however, is a great weight training exercise to test your strength on and try to max out for one rep every now and then. You should never use a heavy enough weight to allow you less than 10 reps when doing a set of hyperextensions in your lower back workouts as it's easy to hurt yourself if you break form.

You really don't need to do many sets during your lower back workouts because you'll get some secondary work for your lower back from other exercises. Also, you definitely don't want to overtrain your lower back because it will negatively affect the weights you use on many other exercises and you'll be more likely to injure it. Since you don't need to do many sets for your lower back you should do you lower back workout routine on the same day as you do your leg or upper back routine.