This is probably the most important topic we'll cover; how to identify the different types of pain and how your body communicates the level of severity.

You might be starting a new workout routine for this new year to become stronger & healthier, or hesitant to start one if you have recently experienced pain. Learning to recognize your pain can make the difference in knowing:

- When to start your workouts.

- How high or low to set your goals.

- How fast or slow to push your body.

- The difference between soreness vs. injury.

- What to give your body to properly recover and heal.

If you struggle with discomfort or pain in your back and shoulders, working out can be the last thing on your mind. However, as counterintuitive as it may seem, working out can be one of the best things that you can do to prevent back and shoulder pain, bad posture, or even serious damage in the future.

Knowing what exercises to do, how to incorporate them into your day, and when to give yourself a break can be the difference between a productive and comfortable day or a trip to the chiropractor.

Learn to Recognize Pain

Whether you’re a weightlifter, an athlete, or just have a demanding job, you know what it’s like to work through pain. Sometimes it’s what you have to do, and other-times it can actually make you feel better. However, that depends on the kind of pain that you have.

If you have a dull, aching pain that feels like it’s coming from a large area, this is just post-exercise soreness. It comes from light wear-and-tear and the natural build-up of waste products in your muscles from exercise. Doing light, flowing exercises like stretching can help to make this kind of pain go away. Not much to worry about, just light monitoring is required to know when the muscle is ready for the next workout.

If you have a sharp, stabbing pain that feels like it’s coming from a very small area, this could be the result of a muscle or tendon tear or rupture. This is serious. Try to rest and ice the area rather than working it. If the pain doesn’t go away or gets worse after a couple of days, talk to your trainer or your general care provider.

Power Squats are another way to work on strengthening your lower back muscles. Proper Squat form is key to avoid back pain.

Here is proper Squatting posture technique we learned from Stronglifts:

– Stand with the bar on your upper-back, and your feet shoulder-width apart.

– Squat down by pushing your knees to the side while moving the hips back.

– Break parallel by Squatting down until your hips are lower than your knees.

– Squat back up while keeping your knees out and chest up.

– Stand with your hips and knees locked at the top.

The core of your body is your foundation and is what keeps you strong, flexible, and active. Planks help by strengthening the muscle groups of your core regions, thus boosting your overall body strength; especially you back muscles.

The major muscle groups of your core include the:

-Abdominus (Abs)

-External Obliques (Next to the abs and below the ribcage)

-Erector Spinae (Mid Back)

Doing Planks regularly helps build your body’s high level of functional fitness while also reducing muscle strain and back pain. Having more control of your core improves your balance and gives you better posture.

Add Planks to your workout to strengthen your core and back muscles.

Partial crunches is a great exercise to strengthen your lower back and abdominal muscles. All you need to do is to lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Use a padded mat for a little more comfort. Put your hands behind your neck or off to the sides of your head, and slowly lift your shoulders off the floor without using your hands or elbows. Breathe out as you raise from the floor and breathe in as you lie back down. When you raise your upper back off the mat, hold this position for about a second and then return all the way back down. This repetition will stretch and utilize your back muscles by supporting your upper weight. Make sure to avoid doing the exercise if or when you have acute back pain. Perform this exercise when you don’t have a backache or discomfort.

Practicing this exercise in proper posture will build your back muscles to be stronger, thus making it easier for you to perform activities involving your back during your work routine.

At home or at the gym, start practicing partial crunches. You’ll start feeling the difference.

Taking care of your back while you train. 

If you have a 9-5 job which involves any physically activity, there is no doubt you are going to experience exhaustion with a certain level of back pain and fatigue. Back pain can drive you nuts, since it makes it difficult to perform daily chores. Therefore, you need to take ample care of your back so that you can seamlessly enjoy doing your work. Being physically fit boosts your mental health and can save you from mental disorders like add treatment and anxiety.

In the next few posts we’ll cover the 5 best training exercises to strengthen your back muscles to avoid pain and be more productive at work:

Deadlifts:

There is no doubt that deadlifts are an amazing workout technique that helps increase your muscle endurance and strengthens your entire body. If you look at the posture, and ergonomic motion of deadlifts exercises, you’ll notice that it is highly beneficial for people needing to lift heavy items or patients at work; jobs requiring repetitive squatting and lifting such as firefighters, warehouse workers, and package handlers, etc. It is also an easy workout to perform but the key is maintaining a straight back to keep your spine aligned correctly.

To perform the  basic technique:

Start by picking up a barbell from the floor, lift the bar to your knees, hold, then lower the bar and return it to the floor maintaining proper posture all the way through.

Proper posture in this position means:

• planting your feet flat on the floor,
• keeping a straight back,
• pushing off to lift with your legs,
• putting your weight on your heels,
• maintaining this posture all the way through.

Safely try the deadlifts next time you are at the gym or working out from home.