Our spine is actually a heavyweight hero. It can withstand a weight of up to 400 kg, regularly holds the mass of the entire body, overcoming the force of gravity. That is why it is so important to maintain this organ in health and tone. Often, at the slightest back pain, we hear that we need to give up loads on the spine, stop training. But you really want to keep in good shape, especially when summer is ahead. Therefore, we have prepared some tips for this case.

The spine is a kind of Axis of our body, so the vertical load that it receives is called axial. It can be:

  • strong-when holding a large weight (barbell, dumbbell) on the shoulders, when running, sharp landings;
  • medium-for strength training with dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells in your hands in a sitting or standing position;
  • static – when the angle of its inclination does not change during the load on the back;
  • specific-formed in the absence of additional action on the spine due to a certain position of the trunk.

Exercises with axial load are those that, when performed, compress the spine along a longitudinal line. Such complexes exist for any part of the body:

  • for the legs, these can be various types of squats, bends and lunges with a barbell, deadlifts on straight legs, toe lifts, etc.;
  • deadlift, incline deadlift, or back deadlift;
  • barbell and dumbbell lifts on the biceps while standing;
  • French press, dumbbell press from behind the head standing for triceps;
  • for the shoulders-barbell presses standing from the chest and from behind the head.

If you can't overload your spine, you need to focus your training on strengthening your back muscles and vertebrae. Use exercise machines and strength exercises without extra weight, avoid strong bends and standing positions, use resistance bands, they add load to the muscles without negatively affecting the spine, do yoga.

Ideally, you should consult your doctor when creating a training program. But in any case, before the lesson, you need to stretch your body with light exercises or riding an exercise bike. Exercises should be performed in 3-4 sets of 20 repetitions.

There are many exercises that will help train the same muscles, but without loading the spine. In particular:

  • leg press and leg flexion in the simulator instead of squats with a barbell;
  • leg flexion lying down instead of deadlift;
  • Wide Grip Pull-Ups, Upper Block pull-ups to the chest, dumbbell tilt to the waist, sitting block to strengthen the back muscles;
  • training the pectoral muscles with exercises from a supine position;
  • lifting dumbbells and barbells on the biceps while sitting;
  • different types of push-ups;
  • dumbbell and barbell presses while sitting;
  • swings while sitting and in the simulator.