Can anyone tell me a few exercises that I can do (on the living room floor) to strenghten all the muscles in my back?

I think I do every other part of my body at the gym, but not specifically my back.

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MEL
Absolute Skating

This is a yoga move, a stretch, but it does help strengthen the back:

Standing "A" Stretch:

Feed wide apart, slightly turned out. Arms up and out at shoulder height. Now, just "Dive" forward at the waist (bend over, but don't bend the knees too much). Arms and hands then sweep down backs of legs until hands encircle ankles or whatever part of the lower leg you can reach. It gets its name form the fact that you look like an upper case letter "A" in that position. To come up, wiggle feet together for balance, and rise up slowly, arms straight out in front of you.

I do this before and after every skate.

Beth

Lay flat on your stomach with your arms at your side and face down. Your legs are straight and your stomach should be contracted as well as your butt muscles. Lift your head up, very slowly, and slowly lift your arms and kinda slide them back. You should be keepting your stomach tight. Slowly lift your Shoulders off the floor and hold this for 5 seconds. Slowly put everything back down. Do this like 4 times and then bring your legs up too remembering to contract your abdominals so you don't hurt your back. It's a very slow excercise, make sure you breath as you come up and contract your muscles, but it works your entire back as well as your abs and your glutes. I also lift weights, 15 pounds, I do 2 or 3 things for my back and then I do one soley for my chest.

I had to rehab a serious back injury in my 20's (fractured vertebre), and my daughter has been plagued with lower back problems as well.
Most of the exercises have focused on the abs.....strong abs = strong back. Here's a few exercises:

Laying on your back, arms on floor by your sides, bring up your knees up...now extend each leg out slowly, alternating each one forward and back making absolutely sure your back remains flat and does not rise up (this is very important).

Get on your hands and knees. Extend one leg back while at the same time extending the opposite arm in front. Do these slowly and alternate.

On your back, arms extended down at your sides, one leg extended out and the other bent with foot flat on the floor, lift up your lower body...rear end will now be off the floor, extend the other leg straight, knees are now together, and hold. Practice holding this position up to a total of two minutes (yeah right....) It's not easy! Benefits leg strength too, which is a good thing for a skater...

I hope my descriptions make sense!

Thanks guys.....a couple of those sound familiar!

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MEL
Absolute Skating

I agree - the key to a strong back is strong abdominal muscles. I had some severe problems with my back, and I have made them much, much better by doing ab work. I do a variety of sit ups, crunches and other ab exercises 3-4 times per week. It doesn't take very long each session to see improvement - I probably do about 10-15 minutes worth of work each ab session.

I've incorporated abs into my normal workout so that they don't seem too onerous. I do them after I stretch out.

Stretching can also help your back. Yoga stretches are great, as are stretches for your quads and hamstrings, which surprisingly have a lot to do with how your back feels.

I do Pilates, which strengthens the abs and also has exercises to strengthen the back (such as some exercises on a mat where you're on your stomach). I've been taking for about 5 years. I used to have chronic sciatica, piriformis syndrome (terrible), and sacroiliac pain. Now it's all gone, and I think that Pilates is what did it for me.

If you have the interest (and the money), you could try a short series of Pilates classes (the group lessons are reasonable--usually 9-12 dollars per class and cheaper if you buy a block, of, say 10 weeks; make sure to check what training your teacher has had so you don't get taught unsafe ways of doing the moves). I wouldn't advise only using a Pilates video because it's easy to do the exercises wrong and either not get benefit from them or to actually hurt yourself.

One thing I do in front of the TV is to stretch my upper chest muscles (they get tight from driving and working at the computer, which then makes my shoulders, neck, and upper back ache). Hold a bath towel in both hands (hold it lengthwise so you're holding long side of the towel parallel to the floor, not perpendicular to it), raise your arms your head without locking your elbows, and with your stomach held and your shoulders down, *gently* press your arms behind your head. Don't use a bouncing motion. If you avoid sticking your ribcage out, you'll get a nice stretch of the pecs.

This is great for helping rounded shoulders, which many skaters have. Since it's an active stretch, you'll be stretching your front and strengthening your upper back/shoulder girdle muscles to do it. The more flexible you become, you'll be able to place your hands closer together on the towel. Some people do this exercise with a Theraband instead.

Edited to say: A friend of mine is a certified Pilates instructor and just returned from U. of Leeds. If you want to know where to find Pilates teachers in the UK, I can ask her. I'm pretty sure the Laban Centre in London has it (they'd know where you could find teachers, as well) and I know that U. of Leeds does, but no clue about elsewhere in the UK.

They are ubiquitous these days, as it is the fashionable exercise, so every gymnasium offers a class of sorts - this year, anyway. Of course, when the next craze comes along, the Pilates will be dropped in favour of it....

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Mrs Redboots
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