Lumbar Spondylosis Exercises

Here is a simple routine of exercises you can do for lumbar spondylosis. Welcome or welcome back to Age Fit with Tess, my name is Tess Halbauer, Physiotherapist. A definition of lumbar spondylosis is:

"all degenerative conditions affecting the discs, vertebral bodies, and associated joints of the lumbar vertebrae. Spondylosis is not a clinical diagnosis but instead a descriptive term utilized to designate spinal problems". Physiopedia

Exercise is the main conservative treatment approach for lumbar spondylosis. By the end of this article you are going to know how to complete a routine of eight exercises for lumbar spondylosis. This article contains exercise progressions following on from the video Lumbar Spondylosis Exercises. The exercises from this article can be seen in the video Lumbar Spondylosis Exercises Progressions.

1. Transverse abdominis (TA) activation. Lying on your back, with each hand place two fingers on the inside of each hip bone. Squeeze to bring your belly button toward the ground. You should feel the TA muscles push up into your fingers as you do this. Repeat eight times. The TA muscles are the deepest layer of abdominal muscles and span from the bottom of the rib cage to the top of the pelvis vertically and from the spine to the midline of the stomach horizontally. Because of the breadth and span of these muscles, the TA muscles play an important role as abdominal or core stabilisers, in turn aiding to support the lumbar spine during movement.

2. Bird dogs. Kneeling on the ground, activate your TA muscles and lift your right arm, hold for 3-5 seconds, and come back down. And again, lift your right arm, hold, and come back down. Repeat with your left arm. If this is your fist time completing bird dogs or is challenging enough, stick with this variation repeating 8 reps each arm. If not, move on to the next progression. This time, lift your right leg, hold for 3-5 seconds, and come back down. Again, lift your right leg, hold, and come back down. Repeat with your left leg. Repeat 8 times each leg. Bird dogs build strength in both the abdominal muscles and the muscles directly supporting the lumbar spine including the erector spinae which extends the length of the vertebral column.

Over time progress to raise one leg and your opposite arm together. Raise your right arm and left leg. Hold, and come back down.

Repeat, lifting your left arm and right leg. In addition to forming part of a spondylosis exercise routine, TA activation and bird dogs can form the warm up of any workout routine, particularly before an upper or lower body strength workout.

3. Knee plank & plank. Remaining on your knees, come down to your elbows in a plank position. Again, activating the TA muscles first, hold the plank position for as long as you can, aiming for between 10-20 seconds to start with. Over time progress to coming off your knees and on to your toes. Again, holding for as long as you can maintain posture in this position, without sinking or lifting your bottom. Planks build abdominal or core strength which aids in supporting the lumbar spine.

4. Glute bridges. Lying on your back with your knees bent, lift your bottom off the ground. Repeat 8 times. Glute bridges work the gluteus muscles, hamstrings, and TA muscle. These muscles act as part of the posterior chain to aid in supporting an upright posture which assists to maintain alignment of the lumbar spine. To progress glute bridges, add a dumbbell weight. Hold the weight across your hips with both hands. Again, lift your bottom off the ground and lower down again. When choosing a weight, pick a weight that will challenge you to complete 3 sets of 8-12 reps.

5. Deadlifts. Standing with your feet shoulder width apart, lower the dumbbells to the ground, keeping your back straight throughout. Repeat 8 times. Deadlifts, again work the muscles of the posterior chain including the muscles of the lower back. You should feel deadlifts work the muscles of your lower back as they activate to maintain the straight back posture throughout the movement, as seen in the side view here. If you have difficulty getting all the way to the ground, aim to lower the weight to your knees or just below to begin with.

6. Romanian deadlifts. Standing with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees slightly bent, lower the dumbbells toward the ground, lowering to around knee height.

Aim to keep your back straight throughout. Repeat 8 reps. Romanian deadlifts differ to conventional deadlifts with the knees remaining only slightly bent. This in turn, targets the muscles of the lower back as greater emphasis is placed on hip extension as opposed to hip and knee extension together. Typically a lighter weight is used for romanian deadlifts as opposed to conventional deadlifts.

7. Squats. Holding on to a dumbbell at chest height, keeping your back straight, bend at your hips and knees to squat. Repeat 8 times. Squats again work the muslces of the posterior chain which aid to support posture. In addition, squats are a very functional exercise and are used in everyday activities such as sitting or standing up from a chair, putting shoes and socks on, or reaching down to a cupboard.

8. Side bends. Holding a dumbbell in your right hand, bend at your side to lower the weight to just above knee height, then come back upright, facing forward throughout. Repeat 8 times. You should feel the muscles on your left side activate as you come back up. Side bends can be considered a progression of lumbar spine lateral flexion, seen in the video lumbar spondylosis exercises.

Repeat with your left. Again, lowering the weight to just above knee height, then contracting the muscles on your right side to come back upright. Notice you are contracting the muscles on the opposite side to the weight as you come back to upright standing. This is where you should feel the muscles working. Side bends primarily activate the external oblique muscles, which span the sides of the abdominal area between the lower ribs and pelvis.

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If you have Lumbar Spondylosis and are unsure if you have the right exercise program put together, make sure to get your complimentary self-assessment to identify if you are meeting 10 key components of a successful exercise program.

Thank you

Tess Halbauer

Physiotherapist.