Whether you are an athlete, a bodybuilder, a power trainer or even someone going through rehabilitation, a trainer or therapist may have prescribed some lower back exercises. These can be prescribed to deal with back pain or as part of routine training for injury prevention and better overall body capacity. So what’s the big deal with lower back exercises? These kinds of activities play a vital role in developing the body for overall function and for specific athletic prowess.

Spinal Support

The muscle groups in the lower back include stabilizers and spinal support muscles. Some of these muscle groups make up part of the “core” that benefits from toning and strengthening. The core, in a sense, carries the body and distributes pressure to help support the body’s internal infrastructure. Many kinds of lower back exercises, such as a leg curl and back hyperextension in Pilates work, actively work these lower back muscle groups and help make the body’s core functions stronger.

Strengthening the Abdomen and Hip Flexors

Some of the lower back muscles support body functions used for contact sports. For example, a lot of the lower back activities that a trainer might recommend to soccer players deal with counterbalancing kicking muscles and working hip flexors to increase lower body power. This is another essential element where lower back work comes in handy for preventing athletic injury. Though many coaches focus on the muscles that are specifically used within a contact sport, in professional leagues and in the top training rooms around the world, there’s also a specific focus on injury prevention, and that’s where lower back exercises may come into play.

Balancing Muscle Groups

If you’re a body builder, you might be thinking of another important aspect of strengthening lower back muscles. For handling heavy weights, the back muscles are also trained in order to provide balance with the chest muscles. In a more general sense, there’s also the “strong limbs/weak core” scenario, or someone who trains up the pecs and arms without training the back and abdomen may suffer some specific injuries or conditions, simply because the surrounding muscle groups are not prepared to deal with the additional bulk or pressure. It’s always a good idea to pay attention to the balance between your lower back and other core muscles in relation to primary muscle groups in the chest and arms while you are engaged in an intensive weight training program.

These are some of the top reasons why lower back activities are so often suggested by a wide range of trainers, as well as chiropractic patients. Training the lower back can be a powerful tool for preventing many kinds of back pain. Lower back exercises even support the daily activities of sitting and standing that accompany many modern job roles. That makes them even more crucial to an even wider spectrum of people. Take a look at what you can do to add lower back exercises to your training regimen, to get more in injury protection and overall body response.