Seeking professional help from a healthcare practitioner such as a chiropractor or massage therapist can eliminate your back pain. However, you can boost the efficiency of the treatments you receive by making some positive changes to reduce your discomfort, too. Although several factors can cause back pain, being overweight commonly worsens the issue. Excess weight puts more pressure on your muscles, which can affect the curve of your spine and lead to pain. Take action by shedding some weight and you might find that your pain begins to decrease. Here's how to get started.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is a key element of any weight-loss regimen. This form of exercise uses multiple major muscle groups concurrently, which raises your heart rate and contributes to a steady caloric burn. Burning calories is a central element of losing weight. Depending on the degree of your back pain and your overall weight, you can adopt a moderate or vigorous exercise tempo. Examples of moderate aerobic exercise include walking or water aerobics. Vigorous exercises include jogging, swimming laps or jumping rope. Although any exercise is better than leading a sedentary lifestyle, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation is to engage in 300 minutes of moderate exercise or 150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week if you wish to lose weight.
Dietary Changes
Making changes to your diet is an effective way to lose weight. You don't need to turn to fad diets; the simple act of lowering your caloric intake -- in combination with your new commitment to exercise -- can lead to positive results. The methods you can adopt to lower your intake of calories are many. Simple strategies include drinking water instead of any other form of beverage, skipping dessert except for once a week, serving yourself smaller portions and avoiding restaurant food, which is often laden with fat and sugar. Don't be discouraged if you don't find weight-loss success overnight. A healthy rate of losing weight is one to two pounds per week.
Resistance Training
Although many people solely focus on aerobic exercise and dietary changes when they attempt to lose weight, resistance training is another key element. This form of exercise, also known as strength training, increases the strength of your muscles to help you build a fitter body while also boosting your metabolism. Resistance training exercises can alleviate back pain, too -- strengthening the back and abdominal muscles, for example, can take pressure off your spine. You can perform resistance training at the gym with the use of free weights and weight machines or anywhere by using body-weight exercises. Examples of the latter that are effective include lunges, crunches and push-ups. This workout should target all your major muscle groups to keep your body in alignment and the CDC recommends these exercises at least twice per week.
Share