Your Back Supports Every Move You Make. Here's How To Keep It Running Smoothly.

Back pain is one of the most common reasons for work absenteeism, and accounts for millions of dollars annually in treatment fees. If you run on hard surfaces, have tight leg muscles and/or weak abdominals-in short, if you're  like most runners - you're vulnerable to back pain.The lower back is a notorious problem area due to the biomechanical structure of the spine, where the lumbar vertebrae bear much of your weight and take most of the stresses of movement.

Lower-back pain comes in all shapes, sizes and degrees of intensity. It can be dull or sharp, acute, chronic or intermittent. Luckily back problems are often preventable once they manifest and maybe easily treatable in their early stages before they become debilitating.Here are some simple fixes for the most common back problems encounterd by runners.

The Problem: For the time constrained runners, dashing out the front door for a quick session is the norm which usually means hitting the hard surface of the road or footpath.Running on hard surfaces ie road and footpath puts more strain on the kinetic chain- the linkage of feet, knee, hips and lowerback. If the surface ia also pithced this can cause your body to run with a tilt, causing an imbalance of the leg muscles and a leg length discrepancy, which can irritate lowerback muscles.

The Fix: Vary your training ground, grass, trails and treadmills soften the force of impact. This can  produce stronger legs as your feet sink into soft surfaces, thus your muscles  work harder as you push off.

The Problem: Flat feet or fallen arches are one of the biggest culprits of back pain. The arch forms a shock absorber which takes the weight and pressure from each foot strike. A loss of this arch causes a rippling effect that ends in the back. Weakness in the feet can also contribute to back pain. Some authors believe the today's heavily cushed running shoes require the feet to work less therefore reducing their strength. There are more than 20 muscles in the feet and if they become deconditioned, the legs, hips and back can feel the effects.

The Fix: Visit a speciality shoe shop to make sure you're wearing the correct shoes for your foot type. Also you can test your foot strength, do this by standing barefoot on one leg, closing your eyes try to remain upright for at least 30 sec. If you wobble some sttrengthening work maybe needed. Stand barefoot and pick up a pencil with your toes. Do 20 reps on each foot. Walking around barefoot around the house is another way to bolster those foot muscles.

The Problem: Weak abdominal muscles don't support the back well. This strains the hip muscles and puts tension on the lower back, which can cause painful back muscle spasms.

The Fix: Build strong abs. Abdominal crunches are great for this. Lying on your back with kness bent to 90 degrees arms folded across your chest and then slowly raise your chest upward 45 degrees with your feet remaining flat on the floor and slowly down. Repeat this ten times, rest, then repeat again. Important try to maintain the small of your back flat with the floor.

The Problem: Unlesss you run backward your gluteals and hamstrings don't get worked as hard as your hip flexors or quadriceps.These muscle imbalances lead to a tug-of-war and your back pays the price.

The Fix: Strenghten your gluteals and hamstrings. Lying on your stomach with both legs straight, extend one leg at a time into the air holding for 5 sec then lower slowly repeat 10 times 2 sets.L:ying on your stomach again repeat as above however once the leg is extended into the air bend your knee to 90 degrees and then on lowering straighten your leg again.

The Problem: Inflexible leg muscles can put strain on your back. Many runers that complain of back pain have tight hamstrings, which limits motion in the pelvis and cuases lumbar strain and back spasms.

The Fix: Stretch your hamstrings. Sitting on the floor legs spread apart reach foward and try to touch your foot hold this position for 30 sec and repeat on other side five reps each side.